The Missing Q
by BlueVanillaDetective
Summary: One of the members of Class Q has gone missing. Is Pluto behind it? What obstacles await not just the missing detective, but all of Class Q? No pairings yet. Rated T for mentions of torture.
1. The House of Horrors

Author's Note: I've been sitting on some ideas for this story for a while, and I thought it might be nice to try a different genre of fanfiction. This will be set in the anime verse, a few years after the episode 45.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

The room was dark, its horrifying contents barely visible due to the flickering lights. Like some cliché horror movie, jars upon jars of preserved, yet unidentifiable samples sat on rows of shelves that lined in front of the room's walls. It was obvious that they had once been painted white, but years of degradation had caused the paint to peel, revealing old, rotting plaster underneath. The monotony of the colors was only broken by sprays of droplets that were the color of rust.

A malodorous scent was in the air. It was an unpleasant combination of preservatives, blood, mold, and grime. It had been sitting there for quite a while, since there were no windows that could be opened, and the ventilation unit had not been functional for an unknown length of time.

Surrounded by large pieces of run-down machinery, in the center of the room, a figure with long, dark hair laid still on the table like some bizarre mannequin in a doctor's office. Its head lolled onto its chest, hiding its face. Beneath the tattered clothing it wore, the figure's rib cage was startlingly visible, as well as various cuts, bruises, burns, and scars scattered all over the body, covered here and there by splatters of blood and grime. One of its arms and both of its legs hung limply off of the edge of the table. They dangled in the air, but were otherwise unmoving.

However, two things made it obvious that the figure wasn't simply a doll. First, its other arm was hooked up to an I.V., which was running dangerously low, even though it was being emptied at such a slow rate. Second, a heartbeat monitor connected to the figure's decidedly male torso was registering a gradually lowering, yet surprisingly steady pulse.

Gradually, the heartbeat monitor began to beep faster. The figure stirred, and his heavy eyes cracked open. After a few minutes of gazing into the darkness surrounding him, he closed its eyes once more, the fading hum of the electricity lulling him to a deep sleep.

* * *

Three boys and a girl stood by a car parked outside of a strange looking house. In some places, it bulged outward, yet it curved inwards in others. The walls had cracks all over them, as well as graffiti courtesy of recent vandalism, and the yard was full of weeds and dry grass. All in all, this was no place for the four well-dressed schoolkids to be hanging around. It was so unexpected that the tallest of the three boys turned to the others, squinting against the sun. "Are you sure that this is the right place?"

The shortest of the boys turned to a laptop that sat in the trunk of the car. Pulling up the saved webpage and reading its contents, he nodded and said, "This building was definitely one of Kuzuryuu Takumi's creations. There's even a local legend surrounding this house."

"A local legend?" asked the girl, her pink hair swinging as she gave her full attention to him.

"Yeah," the boy replied, after adjusting his orange beanie. "The man who had this place built was an eccentric old man, who, towards the end of his life, started to fear death and became obsessed with finding ways to live longer. Rumor has it that he created a small lab so that he could experiment with different chemicals and samples in hopes of discovering a solution that would help him achieve immortality. However, he became paranoid with his work, and refused to discuss it with anyone else, since he was afraid that thieves would find out his goal, break into his lab, and steal his research so that they could become immortal themselves. So he hired Kuzuryuu Takumi to build rooms around his lab, and filled them with many traps and surprises, so that no one would be able to get to it.

Eventually, as time went on, the old man's mailbox started to fill up. The mail carrier noticed and knocked on the door to let him know, but there was no answer. He called the police, and eventually, an unidentifiable set of remains were found in the front yard. People assumed that they were the old man's, since no one had been spotted trespassing on his property. The investigation was closed, and the media leaked a few stories about his quest for immortality. Some curious or greedy people have tried to find the lab, in hopes that he had had a major breakthrough in his research. However, without fail, all of those people have either gotten lost, only to be found without their memories, or has gone missing entirely, never to be seen again. Because of this legend, no one has been willing to buy the house, let alone step foot in it, so it has been abandoned all these years."

"…I see," the last of the three boys nodded, his mind focused on what his friend wasn't saying. "So you believe that _he_ could be in there."

The other three flinched at his words.

"After all this time….," the girl murmured. The long-lasting moment of silence that followed her statement was filled with apprehension, fear, and anxiety as they thought about what they were about to do. They were about to risk their lives in a house of tricks and traps, in order to find their missing friend, who may already be dead, or who may not even be there in the first place.

The silence was soon broken by the tall boy. "Well, we won't know unless we try," he declared. Followed by the others, he made his way to the front steps of the door. Despite his brave face and the courageous tone that accompanied his words, he couldn't help but be worried.

 _What sorts of horrible things laid ahead?_

* * *

Should I continue this story? Tell me what you think! No flames, please….


	2. What Happened Six Months Ago

Have you figured out who's who in the last chapter? Well, let's find out, shall we?

Please read and review! Natsu from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will swallow any flames.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

As the group of four ventured inside the house, they saw that its interior was even crazier than its exterior's appearance had implied. In some places, the ceiling hung low. In other places, it was raised high, or it sloped off. Hidden trap doors and winding staircases covered almost every square foot of the area, and different colored doors seemed to lead off to never ending hallways.

"I don't think splitting up would be a wise idea," said Amakusa Ryuu. Using one of the flashlights provided by DDS, he scanned their surroundings as he made a mental note of their relative location within the house. "We would most likely get lost if we tried to navigate around by ourselves."

Everyone agreed, and Minami Megumi spoke up. "Kazuma, is there a way you can create a map of this house?"

The computer genius, Narusawa Kazuma, shook his head. "Without a network to connect to, I can't."

"Then we'll have to rely on my memory, I guess," Megu decided, with an uneasy tone. It wasn't because she wasn't confident of her ability, but she knew that if she made a mistake, they may not make it out of the house with their memories or their lives intact.

"You can do it, Megu," said Toyama Kintaro reassuringly, the last of the four. "All of us believe in you." The others nodded, indicating that they shared the same sentiment.

"Okay, let's go," the pinkette decided. _Before I lose my nerve again._

* * *

In between the never ending cycle of trying out a path, finding dead ends, and retracing their steps with the help of Megu's ability, the group couldn't help but recall a memory from 6 months ago.

 _On a warm summer evening, the sun was setting as Class Q arrived back at their classroom in DDS from their most recent case. A woman had drowned in her car inside a nearby lake. At first, it appeared as if it were a suicide, but Kyuu, with Ryuu's help, had figured out that it had been a murder. Apparently, she had just broken up with her abusive boyfriend, and in a fit of rage, he had hit her in the head with a nearby vase, and killed her. Panicking, he then placed her in the car, turned on the ignition, set a large block of ice onto the gas pedals, and let the car drive itself into the lake._

 _However, a quick look at her diary didn't show any signs of her contemplating suicide, and the coroner's report showed no water in her lungs, meaning that she had been dead before she hit the water. After pointing this out, they had extracted a confession full of swearing and insults from the abusive boyfriend. He was unrepentant about what he had done, and the members of Class Q had left in disgust, eager to make it home by the end of the day. Dan-sensei had picked up on their mood during their briefing over the phone, and told them that they were allowed to go home upon their return to the school._

 _Upon arriving at his seat, Kyuu noticed a note on his desk. It was from Dan-sensei, telling Kyuu to meet him at his office in the main building._

 _Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kyuu wondered why the headmaster hadn't mentioned the meeting in the phone call. However, apprehension soon set in and he was distracted from the thought as he wondered if he had done something wrong. He rifled through all of the cases he had stored in his mind, which, surprisingly, was a lot._

 _What? All cases were interesting, so they were easier and more fun to memorize than unfamiliar Japanese or English words and phrases._

 _He was soon cut off from his thoughts as Class Q began to leave._

" _Well, I'm off," Kinta said cheerfully as he hopped on his bike. Everyone knew he was going to one of his many part-time jobs that he had undertaken in order to support himself financially. "See you tomorrow!" They watched as he turned his attention back on the sidewalk, barely avoiding a collision with a lamppost._

 _Kazuma rolled his eyes as he headed off into the opposite direction, towards the parking lot where his chauffeur sat waiting in a Rolls-Royce. "I have to go too. After dinner, I have to catch up on designing my newest game. Good night, everyone."_

" _Good night, Kazuma," Megu yelled after him, as she waved him goodbye. "I have to leave, too. My sister's expecting me to be home for dinner. Have a safe trip home, Ryuu, Kyuu."_

" _Shouldn't we be the ones to tell you that?" Ryuu asked. "The buses don't run this late at night."_

 _Megu smirked. "Don't worry," she assured them. "Hongou-sensei did teach me a little bit of judo, after all." Recently, DDS, the only school that gave its students the right to bear arms, had decided to teach its students some forms of martial arts so that they would be able to defend themselves before they reached the age when they would be legally able to carry guns._

" _Ah. Well, have a safe trip home, Megu," said Kyuu, repeating the words she had told them earlier._

 _Meg gave them a smile as she left._

" _Ready to go, Kyuu?" asked Ryuu._

 _Kyuu hesitated. "Actually, it looks like Dan-sensei wanted to talk to me." He showed Ryuu the note that was left on his desk._

" _Oh," said Ryuu, now understanding why Kyuu looked worried. He would be too if the principal called him into his office…even if his reasons for being afraid were slightly different from Kyuu's. "…Would you like me to wait for you, then?"_

 _Kyuu considered the offer and shook his head. "No, okaasan is probably worried about us right now. Why don't you go home and tell her that I'll take a little longer to get home?"_

 _Ryuu felt a prickle of unease. "Are you sure?" When Kyuu nodded, he turned and started on the way to Kyuu's house. As he turned and glanced back at Kyuu, who was still smiling as he waved at him, he wondered why he felt as if he wouldn't see his friend for a long time._


	3. Lost Boy Found

Sorry for not updating sooner! Here's chapter three…

Please read and review! Flames will be extinguished by Gray and Juvia of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail (Go Gruvia!).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

After an eternal cycle of forging down a path, finding a dead end, and returning to their original spot, the four Q-Class members finally arrived at a wall of plaster.

"Another dead end?" Kinta asked in frustration.

"No," said Megu, her tone catching their attention. "According to my memory, this is the only part we haven't explored."

"Really?" asked Ryuu. "Hmm… let's look for any clues that would help us get closer to the center of this house."

The other three nodded, and they began to spread out. Kazuma trained his flashlight on the floor, looking for any trapdoors. Kinta searched the ceiling, while Megu and Ryuu walked alongside the plaster, scanning it from top to bottom.

"I found something," shouted Kazuma, shining his flashlight onto a piece of paper on the floor. Everyone gathered around him, and followed his gaze to a symbol drawn on it. Ryuu's eyes widened, and he felt a prickle of unease. He resisted the urge to rub at the back of his neck, where the same symbol had been etched into his skin.

"Pluto," he muttered. All eyes turned to him. "That's the tattoo that all Pluto members have somewhere on their bodies."

"How do you know that?" Megu asked curiously.

"…I accidentally caught a glimpse of an old case file, in Dan-sensei's office," he lied smoothly.

"Oh," Megu accepted the explanation easily. Internally, Ryuu winced. He hated lying to his friends, but he was worried about how they would react to the knowledge that he was the grandson of the head of Pluto, the enemy of DDS. Even though he was sure that they wouldn't hurt him (except for maybe Kinta), he wasn't sure if he could take the rejection of the first friends he had ever made in his life.

Taking a step back from such dark thoughts, he cleared his throat. "Let's look for a hidden door. Pluto members like to hide in plain sight, so the door could be right in front of us, and we wouldn't know it."

Kinta leaned back on the plaster wall. "But how will we be able to find a secret door? None of us found anything-"

 _Click._

Thud.

"Kinta!" The others chorused, scrambling over to their fallen friend.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he grumbled as Ryuu offered him his hand to help him up. Dusting himself off, he looked around. "Where are we?"

Lights flickered on and off, giving all of them a view of the contents of the room. The jars on the shelves, the machinery, the blood splattered on the walls, all of those were visible to the four detectives.

"It would seem that we've stumbled onto the lab," Ryuu surmised.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" Kazuma hissed. As the others quieted down, they heard it too.

 _Beep…Beeeep….Beeeeeeeeep…_

"Is that a heart monitor?!" Kinta asked incredulously.

Megu closed her eyes to try and track the sound. Soon, her eyes opened, and she crept forward, leading the others around a maze of machinery.

Suddenly, she stopped, the others bumping into her in a weak domino effect. She didn't seem to notice, as she turned back to them.

"Guys, look!" she said, shining her flashlight at a table in what seemed like the center of the room. The three followed her startled gaze, and jumped in surprise.

There was a human-like doll laying on a table in the center of the room. It had long hair, tattered clothing, and tears and smudges all over its body. However, it became clear to the detectives that the doll wasn't what it appeared to be, as they became conscious of the fact that the figure's chest was slowly moving up and down.

Ryuu and Kinta slowly approached it, with Megu and Kazuma close behind. Ryuu's eyes warned them all to not make any sudden moves or noises.

Hesitantly, Kinta inched his hand forward, grabbed the figure's shoulder, and shook it gently. The figure didn't attack him, which gave him a small sense of relief. However, the shake had caused the person's hair to fall away from his face, allowing them to see exactly whom they had found.

For a long moment, everyone was breathless. They would recognize that face anywhere.

"KYYYYYYUUUUUUUU!"

Despite the loud exclamation, the boy did not stir. Everyone exchange concerned glances that became more worried with what they heard next.

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_

Frantically, they shook Kyuu harder. There was still no response. Panic rose up in everyone. After finally finding Kyuu, would they be leaving with his dead body?

"Kazuma," Ryuu said calmly, even though he was feeling anything but at the moment. "Go back to the car and call for an ambulance. Megu, go with him, and lead the paramedics here. You are the only one who knows the way." Although they were reluctant to leave Kyuu, they nodded and left quickly.

Kinta immediately started to performed hands-only CPR on Kyuu as Ryuu watched anxiously.

"Come on, Kyuu," Kinta grunted between thrusts. "We just found you, and you're going to leave us already? Don't you dare do it… don't you dare die on us."

Both boys looked relieved as the heart monitor started to beep once more. Even though it was weak, Kyuu's pulse was there, and that's all that mattered.

"Watch over him," Ryuu murmured to Kinta. "I'll look for more evidence about what happened to him."

With that, he slipped away and started a cursory search through every inch of the lab. However, he found nothing that stood out, and silently cursed Pluto's ability to leave no evidence behind this time.

Just then, Kazuma, Megu, and the paramedics bolted in. One of them checked on Kyuu, as the other looked at the group of teens appraisingly.

"From what you told me, your friend was dying, but it seems that he was revived successfully. I'm impressed. Who are you kids?"

Ryuu shared a look with the others before he turned back to the paramedic. "We're students…of DDS."


	4. The Heart-Stopping Ambulance Ride

As an apology to you guys for not updating sooner, I decided to add this second chapter to today's update.

Please read and review! Seriously, I want to know what you think of this story. Even constructive criticism is fine. Just don't add any flames.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

As Kyuu was loaded into the ambulance and hooked up to another heart monitor, the male paramedic, Yasu, turned to the rest of Class Q. "We have room for one more person to ride with us. Does anyone want to come?"

Kazuma and Kinta shook their heads. Ryuu turned to Megu with a questioning gaze. She surprised him by shaking her head, her eyes filled with emotional tears.

"I think I need some time for all of this to sink in," she smiled sadly. "I'll go with Kinta and Kazuma in the car."

Ryuu nodded in understanding and climbed into the ambulance as the female paramedic, Kara, closed the door behind him.

As the ambulance made its way to the hospital, Ryuu quietly scanned Kyuu's face, drinking in the fact that he was in the same space as he himself was, after 6 months of being missing. He felt simultaneous stabs of pain and guilt. Pain at seeing how much Kyuu suffered during the time he was gone, and guilt that the organization he had run away from had something to do with this. Was this their retaliation?

Thoughts of vengeance crossed his mind. However, he shook his head as if to clear his head of such dark thinking. Revenge never solved anything, as he remembered all of the cases Class Q had solved involving that as their motive. It only made the victims and the criminals feel worse.

 _Besides,_ he thought with a wry smile, _Kinta would be angry enough for all of them._

Kara's voice broke him away from his musings. "So, is he a classmate of yours?" The female paramedic nodded to indicate who she was talking about.

"Yes," he replied politely. He didn't offer any more information.

Kara nodded, while inwardly raising an eyebrow. _He doesn't talk much, does he?_ However, although Ryuu hadn't noticed it, he was tense. Any more stress, and she was afraid that he could be a hindrance rather than a help, should something go wrong on the ride to the hospital. She decided to try and calm him down, so she continued the conversation.

"Are you two close? As friends, I mean," she clarified as she kept an eye on the monitors. Kyuu's vitals were dropping little by little, although he wasn't in danger just yet.

Ryuu let a small smile slip. "Actually, I'd say that he's my best friend. Although I wasn't exactly the friendliest person to him when we met, he persisted on the idea of us being friends, and eventually we were. That's the kind of person-"

What he was going to say was cut off by an alarm as Kyuu's heart suddenly stopped again. Kara cursed as she grabbed a defibrillator from a nearby shelf. Charging it to 500 volts, she placed the paddles on Kyuu's chest.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

There was no response.

The same thing happened when she charged it to 625 volts. Not hearing a heartbeat, she swore softly. Ryuu looked at her with worry.

"It looks like I might have to try going up to 750 volts. It's really risky for someone this age and weight, but the other voltages didn't seem to be working." The paramedic explained, as she readied the machine for the proper charge.

Ryuu thought for a moment. "Let me try something. It won't take long. Just be ready as soon as I'm done."

Seeing her nod of consent, he leaned down and whispered quickly in Kyuu's ear. "Kyuu. I know how hard it is to want to let go and just go to sleep peacefully. But you can't. Class Q is waiting for you, DDS is waiting for you, and most importantly, your mother is waiting for you. Do you want to leave her alone, in the same way your father did?"

Straightening up, he yelled at Kara, "Do it now!" He felt a little guilty about bringing Renjo-san (Kyuu's mother) into it, but he didn't want Kyuu to die. He didn't doubt that his friend could hear him, somewhere in his subconscious. And if he was even the tiniest bit aware, he would be fighting his hardest to come back to life after hearing those words.

Ryuu was proven correct, as not a moment later, the miraculous sound of a heartbeat filled the air, along with others in a steady, constant rhythm. He sighed in relief and slumped back, his adrenaline gone. In the corner of his eye, he saw that Kara had settled back into her seat, her eyes still attentive, just in case.

If Kyuu had died, he and the rest of Class Q would be very upset and depressed, but that would be nothing compared to Renjo-san's devastated sobs. The corners of his mouth turned down as he remembered her reaction upon finding out that her son had gone missing, those 6 long months ago.

* * *

 _Kinta, Megu, and Kazuma turned to the door to the DDS classroom as it was slammed open, only to reveal a strange sight._

 _Calm, composed Ryuu looked nothing like his usual self. With wild eyes and a desperate tone, he asked the others, "Have you seen Kyuu?!"_

 _Everyone's backs unconsciously stiffened as they heard the panic in his voice. "You mean, he wasn't in his bed this morning?" Megu asked sharply._

 _Everyone knew that due to an unspecified family issue, Ryuu was staying in Kyuu's house. They had simply accepted it, knowing it would make Ryuu uncomfortable if they tried to investigate it further._

" _No," Ryuu replied, his expression grim. "He never came home last night."_

 _Just after he spoke the dreaded sentence, Class Q was called to Dan-sensei's office._

 _When they arrived, they saw Kyuu's mother sitting on one of the loveseats, wiping away tears. Dan-sensei sat in his wheelchair in front of her, with Katagiri-sensei sitting next to her, an arm around her shoulders._

 _Hearing them enter, he turned to them and said, "It seems that Kyuu has gone missing. I need to know, who was the last one to see him?"_

 _Ryuu swallowed and stepped forward. "It was me. Kyuu and I were going to walk home together, but it seemed that a note from you was left on his desk, asking him to meet you here. Judging by your expression, you never left him a note, though, did you?"_

 _Dan-sensei nodded. "You are correct. It seems that Kyuu has been kidnapped."_

 _Every one of their faces paled, and Renjo-san burst into fresh sobs._

 _After that day, Kyuu's mother shed tears every day, although she would always put up a hopeful front for Ryuu. She was still very kind to him, and never even seemed to consider kicking him out, even though he knew how much it hurt her to not have her real son there._

* * *

 _One night, as he went to get a glass of water, he passed by a partially closed door that led to her room. He peeked in, and was surprised to find that she was awake. She didn't seem to notice his presence._

 _Silently, he watched her take out a ring, with a detective's silhouette in front of a pink background._

" _Anata," she whispered, caressing the ring. "Please take care of Kyuu, and bring him back to me alive."_

 _Turning away from the private scene, Ryuu silently vowed to grant her wish. No matter what._


	5. The Phone Call

desamontello12: Thanks for the review! Glad to know that you're enjoying the story so far!

To you and my other viewers, please read and review! What do you think of this story? (Be warned: Ami from Takeuchi Naoko's Sailor Moon will douse any flames with her water powers.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

As Ryuu stepped out of the ambulance, he let out a relieved sigh, despite the fact that he couldn't bring himself to smile just yet. The reason? He was thankful that there had been no further incidents during the rest of the trip to the hospital.

Turning back to the ambulance that he had just climbed out of, he watched as some of the hospital's nurses and doctors brought a gurney over to the ambulance and loaded Kyuu onto it. He then stepped aside and watched as the gurney, surrounded by people dressed in lab coats and nurse uniforms, was rushed into the emergency room. He was still in a little shock over what had happened during the ride, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins had all but disappeared. Both left him feeling a little tired.

As he stood there next to the parked ambulance, the car carrying the rest of Class Q arrived, and Megu and Kazuma stumbled out, clutching their stomachs with nauseated expressions. Apparently, Kinta had driven a little too quickly in his rush to get to the hospital. Kinta looked at them, slightly exasperated. His driving wasn't _that_ bad…right?

Hiding a smile at the sight of his friends' antics (since this was neither the time nor the place to be especially joyful), he waved them over to where he was. As they rushed (or in Kazuma and Megu's case, stumbled) over to him, Kazuma asked, "Where's Kyuu?" as his eyes darted around the place, as if their friend was only a few feet away from them.

Ryuu's expression darkened. The others' sharp intakes of air sounded in his ears, and their expressions were full of horror. Realizing the conclusion that they had jumped to, he tried to reassure them. "Kyuu isn't dead, as far as I know, but his heart stopped for a few minutes in the ambulance. He was just wheeled into the emergency room."

Kinta, Kazuma, and Megu were relieved, but not by much. They were still worried over their friend's condition. If his heart stopped twice in the two hours they had been around him, how bad was he medically?

Then, Megu seemed to notice the bags under Ryuu's eyes. "Ne, Ryuu, are you okay?" She asked, her expression full of concern.

"Yes," he replied. "It just scared me, when Kyuu's heart stopped for a second time today. The paramedic had some trouble trying to revive him. But I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Before Megu could press the issue, Kinta's phone rang. He picked it up, listening to the caller and making affirmative noises. Catching a glance of his friends' curious expressions, he temporarily put the caller on hold and explained that it was DDS. He mouthed, " _I'll let them know about…all this."_ He then turned and walked ten feet away, so he could communicate with the school more clearly.

Ryuu then took out his own phone. He had gotten a part-time job at a library so he could be less of a financial burden on Kyuu and his mother, despite their protests that he wasn't. After working a few weeks' worth of shifts, he had saved enough money to get a phone. "I should let Kyuu's mother know about this, as well."

Kazuma and Megu looked at him sympathetically, and wished him good luck. Letting her know that her son had been found, but in such a critical condition, was not on anyone's wish list, but Ryuu took it as his responsibility. After all, he felt that it was partially his fault if Pluto had taken Kyuu out of revenge for his betrayal, not that the others would know. Additionally, he felt that Kyuu's mother should know about her son from someone who had personally been with him this time, not from Dan-sensei (no offense intended).

Stepping away from the others to ensure some privacy, he pressed the number on speed-dial. He tried to calm his racing heart as he pondered what to say to Renjo-san. _Sorry my grandfather kidnapped your son? Yeah, that'll go over well._ A voice in his head thought sarcastically.

It was too late to dwell on that, because Renjo-san picked up after two rings. "Ryuu? Are you going to be late for dinner?"

Ryuu gulped. "Renjo-san...yes. But it's for a good reason. But first…are you using any knives right now?"

"No, why?"

"And are you sitting down?"

"Ryuu, just tell me the reason." She ordered, her tone slightly irritated.

"…We've found Kyuu."

Silence rang on the other side of the line for a few moments before it was broken by a loud shriek. "You…WHAT?!" She believed him, though, since she knew Ryuu wasn't really the joking type. After a long while, she simply asked, "Where is he?"

"Right now, he's at Meijo Hospital in Nagoya."

"Good, I'll meet you there." Renjo-san hung up abruptly. However, he was far from offended, since he understood the circumstances. Also, in her parting words, she sounded a lot more happier than she had in a long time, as well as more hopeful, despite the fact that the word 'hospital' could have a negative connotation.

 _Kyuu must have gotten that optimism from her,_ Ryuu thought as a smile curled on his lips. Soon, he was joined by Megu, Kazuma, and Kinta. Kinta had finished his phone call, and told them that Katagiri-sensei and Dan-sensei would be joining them. Nanami-sensei and Hongou-sensei would be staying behind to oversee the other classes at DDS, with the help of the remaining staff.

"So…what do we do now?" Megu asked tentatively.

"Now…we wait," Ryuu answered.


	6. Memories of Kyuu

desamontello12: Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding! While I was writing about Renjo-san and the knife in Chapter 5, I wasn't trying to imply that she was having suicidal thoughts. I meant that she might accidentally cut herself in the shock following the news.

Viewers, please read and review. I realize that it's been a few years since the anime stopped, but I'd really appreciate your thoughts (although any flames will be blown away by Wendy Marvell from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail).

Warning: This longer-than-usual chapter contains spoilers from the anime.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Kinta, Kazuma, Megu, and Ryuu sat in the waiting room, their bodies tense with anxiety. Kinta's foot tapped the ground in an unsteady, erratic rhythm. No one commented on the annoying habit, because they knew that Kinta had trouble sitting still (It was a miracle that he managed to sit through class!). Kazuma was tapping into his laptop frantically, inputting his observations into a program that compared health so that he could gauge how badly off Kyuu was. Megu and Ryuu were silent, despite the fact that they were thinking so hard that staff and patients walking by expected smoke to come out of their ears.

However, no one knew that the four were thinking about Kyuu. Each of them was remembering special moments they had each shared with him, and were now revisiting them in order to calm themselves as they waited for the doctors to be done with their friend.

* * *

Kinta's memory

 _During a train ride on the way to a fishing trip, Kyuu and Kinta had received a phone call from Dan-sensei about an assault on a man, at a crime scene within driving distance from a train station they had passed by. To their surprise, as they gazed at the picture of the man, they realized that it was the ex-boyfriend of Minazuki-san, the nice, beautiful woman they had just been sitting across from._

 _If you thought that Kinta was startled at the coincidence, he was shocked when Kyuu told Dan-sensei about his suspicions about Minazuki-san being the attacker. However, when the mystery otaku explained his reasoning, the martial arts practitioner felt indignant, since he understood that they were being used as Minazuki-san's alibi._

 _However, he was really impressed with how Kyuu played a trick within a trick on her, in order to get her to admit that she hadn't really been on the train for the past hour. After she had explained her motive and broken down, he was struck by Kyuu's kindness and sincerity towards her at the end, and was a little saddened to hear about his childhood, living with a single parent._

 _Later, as they left the train after finding out that the victim had survived, Kinta said, "Ne, Kyuu. About what you told Minazuki-san…I won't tell the rest of Class Q, if you don't want me to."_

 _Kyuu was silent for a few moments as he thought about his classmate's words. Eventually, he replied, "Arigato. I know they're my friends, and won't make fun of me about my background, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for anyone to know that yet."_

 _Kinta nodded. Then, to get rid of the seriousness, he ruffled Kyuu's hair, teasing, "I bet that I'll catch a bigger fish than you! Who knows, since you're so small, maybe one of the fish could pull you in, and you'll get some impromptu swimming lessons!"_

 _Kyuu grumbled and chased after him as Kinta took off running, both laughing all the way._

* * *

Kazuma's memory

 _Kazuma couldn't believe it. It was such a clever trick…he didn't want to believe that Takigawa-sensei, his home economics teacher, could do such a thing. But all the evidence said otherwise. As a detective of DDS, he couldn't just ignore the evidence and be ruled by his emotions._

 _He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. Turning to its owner, he saw Kyuu giving him a reassuring look that seemed to say, "It'll all work out. You'll see." Inwardly, he realized that Kyuu (and honestly, probably Ryuu as well) had known the answer before he had figured it out, yet the dark-haired boy had allowed him to solve the case on his own... with a little help from him and the others._

 _Giving Kyuu a small, grateful smile for giving him the opportunity, as well as the show of support, he ran off to confront his favorite teacher._

 _After he had gotten his Takigawa-sensei to accept the 30 million yen lottery ticket he had indirectly given her, Kazuma walked off with his hands behind his head. Turning the corner, he bumped into someone, and staggered, his glasses knocked askew. Pushing them back into place, he saw that it was Kyuu. The mystery otaku gave him a small, apologetic smile. "Ah, gomen, Kazuma. I didn't see you there. I was waiting for the bus."_

" _It's fine, I'm okay" said Kazuma, still so happy at how the case ended._

" _So," asked Kyuu. "did you find a way to help them both? Your teacher and her son?"_

 _Kazuma couldn't help it. He stared, and blurted out, "How did you know?"_

" _Well, I had my suspicions as to why your teacher would suddenly commit insurance. From the way you spoke about her, she didn't seem like the type to commit a crime without a good reason. So what would she need the money for? And I knew that she didn't seem romantically interested at all in her coworkers at the school, and that she had a soft spot for kids. I put the pieces together and slipped off to the nursery, and saw her last name on the baby's incubator, along with all of the tubes attached to him, thus confirming my suspicions."_

 _Kazuma stood in disbelief. How could someone so smart be so clueless sometimes? Time and time again, he kept being impressed by this stupid-looking boy a few years older than him, who was able to pull such amazing deductions based on seemingly unrelated evidence._

 _Remembering the question posed by said stupid-looking boy, and realizing he hadn't answered yet, he simply said, "Yes."_

 _Kyuu grinned back, and whispered in his ear, "I'm proud of you," as he walked toward the bus waiting for him._

* * *

Megu's memory

 _Locked in a dark prison under the unknowing noses of DDS, Megu was angry. Angry at Kyuu for dragging her along with him on this wild goose chase, angry at herself for wanting to prove that she was brave enough to be a detective, and angry at Kinta for getting Kyuu to do his cleaning punishment for him and therefore making her offer her help. Deep down, she knew it couldn't be helped, since the circumstances were out of her control, but still. They were LOCKED in an underground chamber she was sure that no one in DDS knew about._

 _Then, that anger turned into fear and panic as she saw-and felt-the snake bite on her. Having seen a documentary on snakes, she knew that this pit viper was venomous, having caught a glimpse of it before Kyuu killed it. Before she could start writhing in pain, however, Kyuu had moved to her leg and started sucking the venom out. Despite the fact that she knew it was a common emergency treatment, she couldn't help but blush. What? His lips were making direct contact with her skin! What girl wouldn't be affected by that? However, she was awe-struck by how he was able to get the rest of Class Q to find them, and keeping a cool head through most of their adventure._

 _She was taken back to their first meeting, when he had deduced where the money that the man accusing him of stealing had fallen and landed. He always managed to surprise her like this, despite his social awkwardness and perverted comments._

 _So when he bowed deeply and apologized to her as she laid in the infirmary, she told him that it wasn't entirely his fault (which was true, since she had followed him down there), and that they should get past it. Besides, she thought with a smile, the experience wasn't all bad. After all, she got to learn more about one of her two enigmatic classmates._

* * *

Ryuu's memory

 _After the killer confessed during the case revolving the violin created by Kuzuryuu Takumi, Ryuu's heart raced as the memory of what Kaori had asked him earlier sunk in._

" _Were you the one who solved all of the mysteries?"_

 _He watched in shock as the killer attacked Kinta and took the knife from him, having gone insane due to Pluto's hypnosis. He muttered, "He who revealed the secrets of the gods shall fall into Tartarus!"_

 _No, Ryuu had replied to Kaori-san. She must have figured out who had, and now he would pay the price._

 _No! I won't let that happen!_

 _As the man rushed towards the frozen Kyuu with the knife, Ryuu interfered, pushing him out of the way. The knife went into his chest instead, leaving a fatal wound. As he fell unconscious due to the painful agony, he thought, "Is this the release from Pluto that I've been looking for?"_

* * *

 _After he woke up and escaped the hospital after the visit from Sir Anubis, he stood on a bridge overlooking the train tracks. (Looking back, he wondered if he had been so willing to escape his fate as the head of Pluto that he was contemplating taking his own life.) However, before he could take a step and let himself fall-_

" _Ryuu!"_

 _The call of his name made him freeze, and he turned to see Kyuu. As soon as their eyes met, Kyuu started rambling about Class Q searching for him._

 _He spoke with Kyuu, his desperation to find a way out of his situation building up until he blurted out, "Can I stay at your place for a while?" He then proceeded to ramble on, feeling more and more awkward until Kyuu placed his hands on his shoulders and smiled, declaring, "You're welcome to stay at my house. I don't really know why you're running away from your home, but I'm on your side!"_

 _Ryuu's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Kyuu agreed to it! As those last words hit him, for the first time in his life, he felt warmth in his heart. He had never felt so cared for by Kyuu and Class Q, and despite the fact that Kyuu knew nothing about his situation, he was still lending his support._

 _Right there and then, he knew that he had found his best friend._


	7. Reunions

desamontello12: Thanks for the review for Chapter 6! Also, I don't know if you saw it, but I updated the beginning of Chapter 6 to explain about Renjo-san and the knife, so you can go back and read it whenever you like.

Visitors and viewers, please read and review! However, know that Erza Scarlet of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will cut down any flames with her Flame Empress Armor.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

The hospital patient's eyes slowly opened, only to snap shut as an intense, blinding world of white assaulted him. After a few minutes, he cautiously reopened them, as a puzzled frown appeared on his features.

Where was he? Before he could wonder about that for too long, scattered memories started to make themselves known.

Darkness.

The sound of quiet, cautious footsteps making their way towards him.

A touch on his shoulder.

Then, a sound he hadn't heard for a long time-an ambulance siren.

A male's voice saying something about his best friend? And kaa-san?

Wait a second… ambulance? The amount of white that he first saw when he woke up? Could he dare to hope… that he was in a hospital?

Finding the remote to raise the bed, he ignored the twinge of pain and sat up, drinking his surroundings in. As soon as it registered-that, yes, he was in an honest-to-goodness real hospital-he let a smile of relief break out. So, he had escaped that hellhole, after all. And just when he started to lose hope…

Then, the puzzled frown broke out again. He was pretty sure that, back on the table in that dark lab, he didn't even have the energy to raise a finger, let alone move on his own. So how did he get here?

Just then, a young nurse came in, writing on a clipboard. Looking up, she did a double take and almost dropped it when she realized that he was awake and sitting up.

"Oh my goodness! How are you feeling? You should really lay back down," she rambled as her hands mechanically adjusted the IV and the different monitors attached to him.

The patient, whose name was Renjo Kyuu, gave her a smile. "I'm okay, although maybe a little thirsty," he croaked. Taking the hint, the nurse poured a cup from the jug on the bedside table and handing it to him. As he drank from it in small sips, he listened as she described his condition (the cuts, bruises, scars, burns, and malnutrition didn't surprise him, but the fact that his heart had stopped twice did). He was thankful that she didn't pry, however. Finishing the drink, he asked, with a much smoother voice, who had brought him here.

"Oh!" she said. "Four teenagers-a pink-haired girl, a blue-haired boy, a tall, dark-haired boy, and a short brunette boy-said that they were from DDS, and that they found you while chasing a lead for a missing person case. They're in the waiting room. Do you want to see them?"

Kyuu's breath caught, and he smiled for the second time that day. _Of course they were the ones to save him._ After he nodded, the kind nurse smiled and disappeared for a few minutes, allowing him to recollect his thoughts. What was he going to say to them, when he had been gone for so long? How much should he reveal about his experiences?

A knock on the door sounded, and he jumped. Willing himself to sound much calmer than he really was, he said, "Come in!"

The door opened, and Kinta, Kazuma, Megu, and Ryuu were ushered in by the nurse, who closed the door behind them. Kyuu and the rest of Class Q stared at each other. Breaking the silence, Kyuu smiled and said, "So, the nurse tells me that I have you guys to thank for finding me."

As if a spell was broken, Kinta, Kazuma, and Megu rushed to his bedside, with Ryuu joining them at a more sedate pace. Kyuu was bombarded with questions.

"How are you, Kyuu?"

"What happened to you?"

"Why were you in that house?"

"How did you get those injuries?"

Kyuu held up his hands, smiling as he tried to contain his friends' curiosity. He had just succeeded in calming them down, when –

"KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! You're alive!" A sobbing Renjo-san barreled in. Kinta and Kazuma barely got out of the way as she jumped onto her son's bed and gave him a large bear hug.

"Kaasan!" Kyuu said, surprised that she had come all the way here but hugging back anyway. It didn't last long as he started flailing around dramatically, in need of oxygen. Thankfully for him, Renjo-san caught on and let go, giving him a sheepish, although still tearful smile as she studied his face, trying to see any changes he might have undergone over the last six months. As Kyuu gasped for breath, he caught a glimpse of what was hopefully the last set of visitors (as the room was starting to become really crowded).

It was Katagiri-sensei, wheeling in Dan-sensei. If Kyuu had been surprised to see his mother, he was shocked upon seeing the headmaster of DDS in his hospital room. It wasn't that he thought that Dan-sensei didn't care about him, it was just that he thought he was busy overseeing the operations of DDS. Kyuu felt somewhat awkward when the rest of Class Q stood in respect while he laid on the bed, but Dan-sensei just smiled at him and asked him how he was doing.

As all of the pleasantries were exchanged and out of the way, a serious atmosphere filled the room. Kyuu felt it, and inwardly groaned in dread as he realized that he would have to tell his story. He winced internally as he wondered what to say. He didn't want to talk about the worst parts, which would make his mother and friends cry, and he didn't want to give away any secrets that weren't really his to tell.

However, he didn't have time to think more about it as Dan-sensei cleared his throat, and asked, "Kyuu, would you be so kind as to tell us what happened in the last six months?"


	8. Kyuu's Kidnapping, Part I

Thanks for the reviews, desamontello12, Kaitou, and D C JoKeR H S. I'm glad that you're liking the story so far! Sorry for the wait. I had no idea how to write this chapter, and even now, I don't think it's that good. But hey, I tried.

To all of my viewers and visitors: Please read and review! I really appreciate any feedback or even constructive criticism (as long as it isn't too harsh). Flames will be taken away by Tomoe of Suzuki Julietta's Kamisama Hajimemashita.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Before Kyuu could start his story, however, the nurse from before poked her head in. "Renjo-san?" she called. "I'm sorry, but can you please come with me to finish filling some documents and ensure that your son's medical history is correct?"

"Ah!" Kyuu's mother jumped. "I was in such a rush that I sped past the front desk."

Kyuu spoke up. "Kaa-san, why don't you go and take care of that? I'll be fine here."

"But-," Renjo-san stopped at the pleading look on her son's face. She understood that he didn't want her to hear about his experiences, so she would wait until he was ready to tell her. Instead of protesting more, she gave him an understanding smile, and left.

Steeling himself, Kyuu took a deep breath as his eyes started to glaze over from remembering the experience. As he began, he decided to leave out Ryuu's secrets in the story. They weren't his to tell, after all.

* * *

 _On that day six months ago, after waving Ryuu goodbye, Kyuu made his way to Dan-sensei's office, with the note asking him to see the headmaster in his hand._

 _Knocking on the door, he was surprised when he saw that the door was ajar. Carefully, he opened it so he could see more of the room. However, before he could take even a step inside, he was grabbed from behind and a sweet smelling cloth was held to his face._

 _As his vision swam and his knees buckled, Kyuu remembered thinking "chloroform" just before he passed out completely._

* * *

 _When he woke up, he realized two things. One, his head was pounding, and two, he wasn't in his bed, judging by the hard stone his back was resting against. As he tried to move his arms, he realized that they were chained to the wall, same with his legs._

 _Where was he? Why was he chained to a wall? Who took him here, and why?_

 _A small noise alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone in the room. After squinting through the darkness, Kyuu saw that a man of medium build wearing a lab coat was experimenting with some chemicals at the table across the room, and a large closet sat on the left of it. Other than some dull flickering lights, the room was pretty bare._

 _The man with the lab coat spun around, somehow sensing that his victim was awake. He came across the room and stood in front of Kyuu. "Ah, Renjo-kun, you're awake. Good."_

 _Kyuu stayed silent, unsure what to say. How did this guy know his name? He wondered, as chills ran down his spine. The man had delivered the words with a smile, which made them sound much more sinister._

 _He stared at the man's face, taking in the scar on his forehead, the glasses, and the graying hair. If he had to guess, he would say the guy was in his early-to-mid forties._

" _Not much of a talker, are we? Well, I'll explain why you are here. I'm sure that you've heard of Pluto, the enemy of DDS? We are the ones who were responsible for your current predicament."_

 _Kyuu stiffened. Pluto? They were responsible for Dan-sensei's kidnapping. "Why did you kidnap me…?"_

" _You may call me Odin," said the man. "As for why we kidnapped you, we needed a new heir to replace King Hades when he passes on. Since DDS managed to steal away our original heir, we decided to take one of Morihiko Dan's potential successors. After viewing all of the student files, we concluded that you, who had the largest number of solved cases on record, would be the best candidate."_

 _Kyuu frowned. "Are you sure? I always thought that there was someone a lot better at deduction than I am." A certain blue-haired classmate of his…_

" _No, you have solved more cases than anyone else," Odin disagreed. "Not even our former prince could outnumber you."_

 _Prince? Kyuu's mind whirred. If they were talking about the same person (and he had a sinking feeling that they were)… "Was your former prince Amakusa Ryuu?"_

" _Excellent. You ARE a deduction genius, truly worthy of replacing King Hades," Odin beamed. Kyuu ignored the compliment, as well as the feelings of surprise and horror that welled up when his suspicions had been confirmed. Now was not the time to freak out about that. He had to get out of here. He didn't want to become successor to the leader of the enemy organization!_

" _Now, I don't suppose that you would be willing to surrender and join us?" Odin's glasses glinted under the dim light._

 _Kyuu didn't even hesitate as he spat out his response. "Never. I can't betray DDS!"_

" _How unfortunate," Odin sighed and turned around. "It looks like I'll have to…persuade you," he called over his shoulder as he went across the room. As he opened the closet, Kyuu was able to get a glimpse of its contents, and couldn't help but shudder, despite his resolve to never give in._

 _Kyuu didn't remember much of the next…twenty-four hours, he guessed. They were full of waterboarding, branding, electrocution, and stabbings. What he did remember was that after each time he underwent torture, there was a small period of time during which he was relieved from the constant pain as Odin told him, "If you cooperate, we'll stop the pain." When he refused, Odin would just grab another torture device._

 _After a while, all of the knife wounds left a significant amount of blood dripping down his body. Mixed with the water left on his body, Kyuu watched in morbid fascination as the pink mixture seeped down the drain below him. He felt dizzy, light-headed, and nauseous, as he wondered, "Is this going to be the end?"_

* * *

To be continued…


	9. Kyuu's Kidnapping, Part II

Thanks for the reviews, desmontello12 and D C JoKeR H S!

To all of my viewers and visitors: Please read and review! I really appreciate any feedback or even constructive criticism (as long as it isn't too harsh). Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender will wash away any flames!

Remember, this is Kyuu reliving his experience, not his actual story he is telling his visitors (with mentions of Ryuu belonging to Pluto left out).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

 _Kyuu had refused to join Pluto so many times, he lost count of the number of treatments he endured, when Odin suddenly put down his last instrument of torture-a whip now stained with blood. "My, my, it seems that you are just too stubborn for your own good. I suppose we have no choice but to use our last resort."_

 _Kyuu cringed. What could be worse than electrocution while you were still dripping from the waterboarding, in addition to the multiple brandings and chemical burns that occurred after that? However, after a few moments when nothing happened to him, he opened his eyes, only to find them automatically focused on a pendulum swinging back and forth directly in front of them._

 _Hypnosis?_

" _Now watch carefully…"_

 _Kyuu tried to look away, but found himself unable to. Against his will, he felt his eyes starting to close. However, as Odin droned on and on, something clicked in his mind._

 _Didn't they try this with Dan-sensei when he was kidnapped and left on the ship? Of course, it didn't work on him, a brilliant detective, but the fact remained that he was able to resist it._

 _Armed with that thought, as well as the knowledge that hypnosis only worked with willing or susceptible victims, Kyuu became increasingly determined to resist Odin's spell. However, a crazy thought came to him. Would it be better to pretend that he had actually fallen under the spell, so he could see what Pluto's plans were and have a chance to stop them? Besides, it wasn't like he could escape in his current bruised-and-battered condition…_

 _Odin, unaware that the hypnosis wasn't working, said, "On the count of three, you will obey all orders from King Hades, and help to plan the foolproof crimes that our clients pay us for. One, two, three!"_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Kyuu blinked awake. As Odin let him out of the chains hanging on the wall and led him to an infirmary, he registered all of the hallways and rooms that seemed to surround them with a bored expression. Escape wouldn't be easy, he thought grimly. It would be a long time before he could see his friends and family again._

 _Over the next month, after he had healed from the torture session and had been tattooed with Pluto's symbol, Kyuu was trained physically and mentally, all while acting like an obedient little soldier. As he built up his strength and speed through many difficult exercises and sparring sessions, as well as his mental prowess by coming up with plans that Pluto's clients could use, he found himself thinking about Ryuu and understanding more of his actions during the beginning of their friendship. How he had described his childhood, how emotionally distant he was from the rest of Class Q, and why he had chosen to run away and ask Kyuu if he could live with him. He felt sorry for the blue-haired boy, and vowed to keep his past a secret from the rest of DDS when he returned to them._

 _For the next four months, Kyuu was sent on missions to ensure that the plans he thought of went successfully. Because Pluto was confident that Kyuu had been successfully hypnotized into becoming an obedient member of Pluto, the leaders didn't find it necessary to send supervisors to ensure that he didn't run away. He was even taught how to hypnotize clients so that if they were caught, they wouldn't implicate Pluto in their confessions._

 _However, what Pluto didn't know was that he would always add flaws to ensure that his planned crimes went wrong somehow, and that any murder victims would escape from their deaths. He would also hypnotize the clients into confessing peacefully, instead of killing themselves or making them go insane, when they failed to carry out their planned crimes successfully._

 _Eventually, five months after Kyuu had been kidnapped, Pluto caught on to his actions when the media, which usually kept quiet about Pluto-related events at the request of DDS, uncharacteristically leaked that the police suspected Pluto's involvement in a high-profile kidnapping that failed. It didn't take long for Pluto to trace the criminal's plans back to Kyuu, and he was punished, with more beatings, electrocutions, and burns, for a month._

 _To teach him the lesson of obedience, Pluto made him suffer more than he had before he became a Pluto member. He was kept alive, but just barely. After each torture session, he was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor in a laboratory, where they had plenty of chemicals to drug him with to keep him from escaping. As it turned out, they were unnecessary, since Kyuu was so weak from the pain and starvation that he didn't even have the strength to stand._

 _As he laid there on the table in the laboratory, recovering from Odin's most recent punishment, he felt his eyes close. The constant punishments were taking a toll on his body, and he felt it harder and harder to wake up. However, that didn't mean he wasn't aware of his surroundings. He heard his heart monitor slow down and rushed footsteps going out of the lab. He deduced that Odin had left due to someone (probably law enforcement) discovering their hide-out, and that Odin didn't expect him to survive his latest torture session._

"...The next thing I remembered, there was someone shaking my shoulder, but that's it."

As he finished his narrative, Kyuu looked down at his lap covered by blankets, hoping to avoid the looks of pity. He fidgeted, waiting for someone to say something. Anything.

Silence reigned in the hospital room for a few moments as everyone absorbed the information. Varying degrees of shock and horror was on their faces.

Dan-sensei spoke up gently, saving Kyuu from the painful silence. "Thank you for informing us about your experiences. I'm very sorry you had to go through that, but we have taken steps around it by placing guards at the door."

Kyuu nodded in acceptance as Dan-sensei continued. "Well, I believe that is enough for today. Class Q, we'll see you tomorrow at school, bright and early. Katagiri-kun, I believe we should return to DDS and see how Hongou-kun and Nanami-kun are doing in my absencd."

Kyuu waved as Katagiri-sensei and Dan-sensei said their goodbyes and left.

As soon as they were out of the door, Kinta lightly bopped Kyuu on the head. "Don't worry us like that again, Kyuu."

Kyuu looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry…"

"Well, I'm glad you're back," Megu beamed, giving him a large hug. To the others' amusement, they could see his cheeks turn pink at the contact. It seemed like that, at least, hadn't changed.

After she released him, Kazuma gave him a high-five. "It looks like you've finished your first undercover job as a detective, at least."

The others flinched along with Kazuma as the insensitivity of the comment hit them. Before Kazuma could apologize, Kyuu smiled at him, not at all offender. "Yeah, I guess so." Before he could say more, a yawn escaped him, and the others (except for Ryuu, who was going home with Renjo-san) took the hint and left.

Now alone, Ryuu sat in the chair by Kyuu's bed. Noticing that Kyuu was still awake, Ryuu smiled and said, "I'm glad that you're safe. Renjo-san and I were very worried about you."

"Yeah, I'll have to make it up to both of you somehow…" Kyuu gave him a grateful smile.

Ryuu was about to protest that that wasn't the point he was trying to make, but Kyuu cut in before he could. "Ne, Ryuu…"

"Yes?" Ryuu asked, taken aback by the serious tone Kyuu was using.

Before Kyuu could continue, however, his mom burst in with a joyful smile, giving Kyuu another hug before moving on to Ryuu.

Kyuu was surprised at how Ryuu simply accepted it. Before he was kidnapped, Ryuu had always stiffened whenever Renjo-san hugged him, like he wasn't used to it. But now...

He smiled. It was good to see Ryuu enjoying life, especially since he had seen a glimpse of what his must have been like for years before he met Class Q. He decided that bringing up Ryuu's past with Pluto could wait.


	10. Recovery and a Drowning

Thanks for the reviews, D C JoKeR H S and Kaitou!

Kaitou, I'll see what I can do to brighten the story up!

I'm thinking about making this story have a few arcs based on…I dunno, three different mysteries? What do you guys think? It'll be my first time writing something like that, so I hope it turns out okay.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Be warned: Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender will blow away any flames!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

As it turned out, the reason why Renjo-san was so exuberant was that Kyuu would be released the week after he woke up. Unbeknownst to everyone, Kyuu would be the happiest one of all. He had been fighting nightmare after nightmare, and when he bolted awake, he would freeze, since the dark room and the monitoring equipment reminded him of _that_ room in _that_ house. Which he later found out from Kazuma, were created by Kuzuryuu Takumi.

(It made sense, he supposed. What other architect, inventor, _genius_ was eccentric enough to build such a house?)

However, his heart would slow down, and his breathing would become more stable, as he looked to the hallway connected to his private room, and see the nurses rushing by, and patients and other hospital-related staff milling about. Then, he would lay there, awake, until visiting hours started (about 3 or 4 hours later), and paste a smile on his face as someone came in.

(His mom and Ryuu were there every day, Megu visited every two days, and Kinta and Kazuma each dropped by twice during his hospital stay. His room was full of get-well cards from DDS, as well as enough flowers to give someone with a pollen allergy multiple sneezing fits if they set a foot into the room.)

His brain knew that this sleep deprivation wasn't healthy, and it would slow his recovery, but what could he do about it? He had already worried everyone so much, and he wouldn't take sleeping pills or talk to a psychologist, as it would alert his friends and family to his situation and defeat his purpose of not worrying them.

So he kept quiet, hoping that with time, he would get over it.

When Kyuu went back home for the first time since his rescue from the kidnapping, his mother had cooked a feast for dinner in celebration. He only managed to eat a small portion of it-his stomach being unable to handle so much solid food so quickly after practically fasting for a month. After chatting while evading tough questions from both his mom and Ryuu, he went to his room. He couldn't believe that after so long, he was actually in his house, and on his own bed.

It took him a while to fall asleep, since his body hadn't laid on his bed for half a year, but when he did, he was dismayed to discover that he was still plagued with nightmares. However, he steadfastly refused to wake Ryuu up, muffling any of his screams in his pillow as his body shook in terror.

The next day, Kyuu went back to school, despite his mother's pleas for him to stay home a little longer. He went to the main office to check in with Dan-sensei, and though it was early in the morning, students from the other classes crowded the halls, eager to see Renjo Kyuu for the first time since his kidnapping. He was smiling, excited to be there, and it was clear to everyone (as he thanked them for their cards and flowers) that his love for solving mysteries had only been temporarily suppressed by Pluto. However, DDS' administration was pretty good at limiting gossip in the halls, so what everyone _didn't_ know was that he had another reason for getting back in the classroom and solving crimes: to get revenge on Pluto for the pain and anguish he had gone through for the last six months.

Of course, the limit on gossip didn't mean that there weren't whispers in the halls when he first strolled in.

 _I heard that it was Pluto that kidnapped him!_

 _Really? Wait…isn't Pluto known for helping criminals plan their crimes and hypnotizing them so they won't sell out Pluto?_

 _Oh my-! Was Kyuu hypnotized? How do we know that he wasn't brainwashed?_

Kyuu wasn't immune to the stares and the whispers. However, he didn't let it get to him. He _was_ secretly amused, though. When Pluto was training him, he had learned more about social cues and human interactions so he could interact better with people, in order to make it easier to get closer to Pluto's clients and targets. Now, he realized how socially awkward he must have been before the kidnapping, if he didn't notice how…talkative…the students could be.

As he got checked in, he noticed Dan-sensei's eyes on him. Turning to him, he decided to ask, "What's wrong, Dan-sensei?"

"Ah, Kyuu…I was debating whether it was wise to let you back in."

Kyuu bristled. _He had been in the hospital for a week. He had to do something, or he would go crazy._ Before he could say something that would be unwise for him, Dan-sensei elaborated. "From what you told me about your experiences, Pluto most likely believes that you are dead. It is risky for you to be here, since Class Q is sent out to assist the police quite often. If you are caught on camera…"

Here, Dan-sensei trailed off, but Kyuu understood where he was going with the idea. "Ah, don't worry. I won't get caught on camera… _thanks to Pluto's teachings of disguise,"_ Kyuu thought bitterly but didn't say aloud.

Dan-sensei seemed to understand, though, and his eyes reflected a small hint of sadness. Kyuu cleared his throat, and awkwardly excused himself from the room, leaving the headmaster of DDS deep in thought.

He headed towards Class Q's base, where his friends were waiting for him. They greeted each other with smiles, and as he placed his backpack by his desk and sat down, they updated Kyuu on what had happened over the last six months. They were in the middle of discussing a case when Dan-sensei rolled in. Everyone stood to attention, and Dan-sensei waved to let them sit down.

"Kyuu, I am glad that you are back with us." Kyuu nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything as Dan-sensei continued. However, the mystery otaku was secretly grateful that Dan-sensei wasn't going to give away what they had discussed before to his friends.

"Everyone, it seems that Class Q is needed once again. At a local gym, the corpse of professional swimmer Yamaguchi Misao was found floating on the pool's surface when the lifeguard was preparing the pool this morning. Estimated time of death was last night, around when the gym closed for the day. The details are vague, but it is clear that the police need help with the case. Class Q, I am putting you on the case."

"Hai!" rang out from each of the five members of Class Q as Dan-sensei nodded and left the room.

"Oi, Kyuu. Are you ready for this?" Kinta boldly asked what was on everyone's minds.

Kyuu smirked. "I'm a detective, and a member of Class Q. I was born ready."


	11. An Inspector Asks for Help

Thanks for reviewing, Kaitou, desamontello12, and D C JoKeR H S!

Kaitou and D C JoKeR H S: It might not happen now, but it's coming!

desamontello12: I was thinking something along the lines of that idea! I was going to write something like that, but the layers may not be as thick as usual…but thanks for the compliment. You too, Kaitou and D C JoKeR H S!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Be warned: Ace from Oda Eiichiro's One Piece will use any of your own flames against you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

As they arrived at the local gym, Class Q took a moment to observe their surroundings. The structure was fairly large, a two-story building, covered by bricks stacked strategically to make the place more pleasing to the eye. While it did not look like a country club for the rich, it certainly gave off the vibe that a substantial amount of money had been put into its construction.

Standing in front of the doors, to the left was the pool, visible through the glass windows covering almost every inch of the walls. There were policemen, coroners, and crime scene investigators milling about in an area of the pool enclosed by yellow tape. To the right, treadmills and other standard gym machinery were visible through the glass door leading to the large room, although no one was there at the moment. That didn't surprise Class Q, who had been told that the owners and managers of the gym were cooperating with the police and decided to close down the entire place. No need for nosy outsiders to contaminate the crime scene.

As they walked in, the manager at the front desk gave them a questioning look. What were these high-schoolers doing here? Before he could kick them out, the detective in charge of the case rushed out, and pumped Kyuu's hand rigorously.

"Ah, DDS. I'm glad you're here!"

Kyuu took the sudden handshake in stride, choosing to go along with it. Looking at the man's face, he recognized it as the detective who had first worked with them at Ichinose Kaoru's séance case. "Odajima, wasn't it? We would be glad to assist you in any way we can. DDS has already filled us in on the case. Please lead the way." He said as Odajima released his hand.

The man's face lit up (a complete change in attitude since that case in Kaoru's house, Kyuu mused) and he led the five DDS members on the long hallway to the crime scene. Kyuu matched the inspector's pace, followed by Kinta and Kazuma. Megu trailed after them, lost in thought. Kyuu had handled that boisterous inspector's greeting well. Surprisingly well, in fact. Before the kidnapping, Kyuu would have panicked, his social awkwardness leaving him tongue-tied. And yet, just now, he had exchanged greetings with the man professionally. Her mind spun as it tried to comprehend the change in social skills.

Behind her, Ryuu was thinking the same thing, as well as something else that had been on his mind since Kyuu's return.

Kyuu may have had the others fooled, but Ryuu knew-and had seen firsthand-how much he had suffered since the incident. On that first night Kyuu had come home from the hospital, he had skillfully redirected the conversation each time Renjo-san or Ryuu tried to ask him about his time missing. He had also gone to bed before Ryuu, and was already asleep when the blue-haired boy entered.

Kyuu seemed okay at first, but Ryuu had woken up later that night-he was a light sleeper, any slight disturbance would wake him-to Kyuu shaking and muffling his screams with the pillow. He had concluded that Kyuu was having nightmares (thanks to Pluto, his mind snarled) and then debated waking him up, but decided that that wasn't the best idea, because a) shaking him awake (from well-deserved rest, no less) could make things worse, and b) Kyuu could withdraw even further into himself. (Kyuu's fake smiles at the hospital had fooled everyone but Ryuu and Renjo-san.) Ryuu wondered if he should talk to him, but decided not to just yet, since Kyuu was determined to figure things out himself, and should have a chance to do so.

Before he could think any more about it, Megu called back to him. "Ryuu! Are you coming?"

"Hai!" he called back, as he moved quickly to catch up to the others. Right now, they had a mystery to solve.

* * *

At the pool, Odajima and Class Q stepped under the tape and into the crime scene. Ryuu noticed that the body had been removed, and the police, crime scene investigators, and coroners had cleared the area, leaving the inspector and the members of DDS alone on the scene. Odajima turned to Class Q and explained the details of the case. "Our victim was Yamaguchi Misao, age 18, a professional swimmer. She was found by the lifeguard this morning, floating on the pool. Due to the water in her lungs, the coroners believe she was drowned in the pool last night, around this gym's closing time."

"Do we have any suspects?" asked Kazuma. He was typing the details of the case into his laptop, keeping it far away from dying a watery death as he sat in the bleachers next to the pool.

"Yes. Only three people were here, in the gym, that late at night."

"Only three people?! Why do you need DDS' help with this case? You seem to have a good grasp on the case," Kinta commented. The police should be able to solve it in no time.

The inspector gave them a sheepish grin. "Well, the thing is…they all seem to have alibis, as well as reasons for wanting Yamaguchi Misao dead. We have very little evidence so far, so we can't arrest anyone yet. We thought bringing you guys in would make things easier."

Each member of Class Q gave the police officer a flat look. Well, at least _this_ time, he knew when to admit defeat and let them into the case…

"So, who were the suspects?" Megu asked politely.

The inspector consulted his notepad, which he had pulled out of his pocket. "One was the lifeguard who discovered the body, Kanegawa Mayumi. The second was Sugase Takeo, a personal trainer, also employed at this gym. The last one was Minabuchi Teruyo, Yamaguchi-san's boyfriend. Apparently, he's a marine biologist, who was waiting for her to finish swim practice so they could go to a late night movie together. We called all three of them in, and they are waiting in a nearby lounge and ready for questioning."

* * *

To be continued…


	12. The Lifeguard, Strongman, and Boyfriend

Thanks for reviewing, D C Joker H S and Kaitou!

Kaitou: The first part of your comment about coming up with a case being difficult is so true! It's part of the reason why there was a long period of time between Kyuu finishing his story and Kyuu coming back to DDS when I didn't update. But thanks for your encouragement. I hope this arc turns out okay…

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. But be warned: Lucy from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will summon Aquarius to drown any flames.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Class Q formed a group huddle, and decided to question the suspects separately, in places that would make them more comfortable and more likely to open up. Kinta said, "Kazuma and I'll talk to Sugase Takeo, the personal trainer, in the weightlifting room," as he dragged the boy to his side. Kazuma sighed, knowing that even if he tried to argue, Kinta wouldn't listen.

Ryuu nodded. "I'll talk to the lifeguard, Kanegawa Mayumi, by the pool."

Kyuu's head perked up. "I'll go with you!" He wanted to talk to Ryuu about Pluto…

"Um, Kyuu, why don't you come with me? It's just…I'd feel more comfortable having someone with me when I question the victim's boyfriend" Megu said quickly.

Kyuu nodded, oblivious to the real reason why Megu asked him to come with her. "Okay, sure. We'll talk to Minabuchi Teruyo at the lounge, since he's already there anyway."

Kinta and Kazuma hid their smirks. They, and Megu and Ryuu, very well knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to let Kyuu near the pool. After all, if he fell in, it would be a problem because he couldn't swim, as they had seen in a few of their previous cases and in the DDS entrance exam.

With nods of the head, they split up to get their chosen suspects to the decided locations.

* * *

Kanegawa-san and Ryuu stood by the bleachers next to the pool. Ryuu wondered if it had been a good idea to bring her in such close proximity to the crime scene, but she didn't seem bothered by it. He wondered why…

Ryuu cleared his throat. "Kanegawa-san, you were the one who found the body, is that correct?"

The 19-year-old lifeguard, a brunette with gray eyes, gave him a flirtatious smile, which he pretended to not see. "Yeah. I was preparing for the early swimmers by doing things like checking the pool's temperature and pouring in some chlorine. When I went to check the concentration at the deep end, I saw the body of Yamaguchi-san, one of the pool's most frequent attendees, floating on the surface."

 _ **Yamaguchi-san?**_ _It sounds like they weren't on friendly terms, despite the fact that they must see each other on a regular basis, due to their occupations._ "I take it that you didn't get along with Misao-san?"

Kanegawa-san snorted. "With that princess? I don't think anyone got along with her. In fact, I feel sorry for Teruyo-san. Even though he was her boyfriend, she would still flirt with any men she found attractive."

"Is there a specific reason as to why you disliked her?"

At this, Kanegawa Mayumi's lips pressed in a hard line. Realizing that she would not say anything on that matter, Ryuu decided to get in one last question. "I understand that you were one of the last people at the gym last night. What were you doing?"

Kanegawa-san started to stiffen, but apparently decided that it wasn't worth the effort to get angry and sighed instead. "After the last swimmer left at 9, I cleaned the pool, picked up towels, that sort of thing. Then I went to the locker room that's at the other end of that hallway so I could take a shower and leave. When I got into my car, I saw that it was 10."

"Was the door to the pool locked?"

The lifeguard shook her head. "The doors inside the gym aren't locked, except for the front door that you had to enter in order to get to the building."

Ryuu smiled and said, "Thank you for your time. Please head back to the lounge, in case we have any more questions." As he watched Kanegawa-san walk away, he made a mental note to get the exact time and cause of death, and to see if he could unearth why Kanegawa seemed to hold a grudge against the victim.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kinta and Kazuma found out that Sugase Takeo had already headed to the weightlifting room, since he complained that he had trouble sitting still. When they went in, they saw that the muscular 21-year-old personal trainer was on his back, bench-pressing 45 kilograms (about 100 pounds), grunting due to the effort each time. When he finished his set, Kinta was behind him and helped him lift the bar to the rack where it rested.

Sitting up, Sugase-san, who had black hair and brown eyes, turned to them and gave them both a friendly smile. "Hey, thanks for the help. Do you lift weights?" He asked Kinta.

Kinta shook his head. "I'm more into judo, kendo, and karate."

Sugase-san nodded respectfully. "So, how can I help you two?"

"We'd like you to answer some questions about the recent death of Yamaguchi Misao," Kazuma answered as he flashed his DDS badge to the personal trainer. "Did you know her?"

"Yes, we went to the same high school, but we weren't really friends. I was surprised to find out that she swam in the pool here regularly. I don't swim, so I don't go to that area of the gym often," Sugase-san explained.

"So we hear that you were here late last night. Trying to get more exercise done?" questioned Kinta.

The trainer laughed. "No, I'm in charge of cleaning and powering down the equipment after all of our visitors leave. I was here until 10:30."

"So no one can confirm your alibi?" Kinta asked.

A flash of annoyance came and went on Sugase-san's face before his expression smoothed out into friendliness once more. "I'm afraid not."

"Okay, thanks for answering our questions," said Kazuma, as he wondered about the sudden mood change.

Kinta, who had also noticed it, added, "If you're done using up your excess energy, can you go back to the lounge? Just in case we have anything else to ask you."

Sugase-san nodded as he went back, not noticing Kinta and Kazuma staring after him curiously.

* * *

Megu and Kyuu were sitting in the lounge with Minabuchi Teruyo. The two DDS students noticed that the 22-year-old marine biologist was full of grief, his eyes red from crying as he clutched a handkerchief.

Megu laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, and asked, "Minabuchi-san, would you mind if we asked you about Yamaguchi-san?"

Minabuchi-san nodded. "Go…go ahead."

"How did you and Yamaguchi-san meet?" Megu asked.

"We met a few months ago, during the spring semester at Kyoto University. Yamaguchi-san was a student of a class in which I was a teaching assistant, and I fell in love at first sight. She was beautiful, and headstrong. Whatever she set her mind to, she would accomplish. I asked her out, and we went on a few dates since." Minabuchi-san seemed to calm down as he talked, and Kyuu decided that it was safe to move forward with questioning.

"You were here last night, is that right?" He asked with a sympathetic tone.

"Yes. We were going to go on a date, a late night movie."

"And did you?"

"No," the marine biologist frowned. "I waited and waited until 9:30, and when I went in to search for her, there was no one in the pool. I texted her, because I thought she could have been in the locker room, but she didn't respond. So I thought she might have forgotten about our date, and went home early to take a nap. She had been getting pretty tired lately…Then, I got a phone call from the police this morning, saying that she…she…"

At this point, he broke down again, and Kyuu and Megu looked at him with sympathy. It was clear that he was really in love with Yamaguchi-san. With some encouraging words that he didn't seem to hear, and a few pats on the shoulder, they left him with the policeman guarding the room.


	13. Kyuu in Charge

Thank you for reviewing, desamontello12 and D C JoKeR H S!

D C JoKeR H S: Wow, looks like you have some great reasoning skills on hand! Let's see if your deductions are correct!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Make some deductions, predict the suspect, write whatever you want. But be warned: Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender will stomp out any flames!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

"Let's review the case," Kyuu, the unofficial leader of Class Q, ordered after everyone had shared their experiences interrogating their suspects. "We were called to a local gym to investigate a drowning at the pool."

"And the victim was a professional swimmer, meaning that it couldn't have been an accident, so she was most likely murdered," Ryuu continued. "Although I also believe that we should check for the possibility of suicide, just to cover all the bases."

"According to the police report, the estimated time of death was between 9 and 11 p.m. last night," Kazuma added as he scrolled all the way through the data.

"And all three suspects were here in that time span, although their alibis are difficult to verify, since each of them were alone," Megu mused.

"And then each of them were acting strangely or said strange things," said Kinta. "We'll have to look at clues and motives to help us figure out what happened."

"Oh!" Kazuma exclaimed, since he had found an interesting update on his computer. "By the way, the coroners reported that there appeared to be signs of blunt force trauma on the back of her head."

"I guess it makes sense, since if there was a killer, he or she would have to incapacitate a professional swimmer first in order to drown her. Kazuma, why don't you research and see if you can find any information online that could be related to the case? I'll check the lounge and ask the suspects a few more questions, Megu will check the women's locker room, Ryuu will check the pool, and Kinta will check the weightlifting room for any clues. How does that sound?" Kyuu asked.

Ryuu raised an eyebrow. He wasn't the only one. _When had Kyuu become capable of forming such a coherent plan?_ However, none of them dared to say it out loud. Instead, they all nodded their consent, and split up.

* * *

Megu stepped inside the locker room, slipping her gloves on. It was fairly nice, as far as locker rooms went. It was furnished with lockers, a bench, toilet stalls, sinks, and shower stalls. The floor was clean, and had been waxed recently. The janitor had clearly done a very good job, since the room was clean and smelled of green apples.

As she made a careful examination of the room and its contents, she did not find anything that stood out until she stood in front of the lockers. Two of them in particular caught her eye. Their gold and silver nameplates read Yamaguchi Misao and Kanegawa Mayumi, respectively. _Was there some sort of significance to the colors?_ Glancing inside the lifeguard's locker, she found a duffle bag with a clean change of clothes, a spare towel, a purse with a phone and other miscellaneous items, and a bottle of water. Opening Yamaguchi-san's, she found similar things, but in the victim's purse, she found a bottle of sleeping pills (that she remembered required a prescription). _Wait. Didn't the boyfriend mention that she had some sleeping problems? Maybe we should talk to her doctor._

* * *

Kinta sighed as he looked at the weightlifting room, realizing that he would have to be very thorough in his search. Grabbing a spray bottle of luminol from the DDS vehicle and putting gloves on, he stepped back into the room and began lifting each of the weights to check for blood residue. He then proceeded to test every surface of machinery in the room, as well as the walls and the floor. All of them came up devoid of blood, so if the lovely Yamaguchi-san had been killed, she hadn't been knocked out here. However, his eye caught a flash of color under one of the bench presses. Taking a closer look, he saw that it was one of those brochures that argued against some subject or another.

Normally, something like that wouldn't have made him suspicious (it could have been on proper dieting, or not smoking or drinking, this was a gym after all), but this particular bench press had been the one that Sugase-san had been working out on. _Was that why he had come here from the lounge? So he would have an excuse to search for this brochure that had been misplaced?_

As he scanned the title of the brochure, his eyebrows rose higher and higher with each word. It was clear that this wasn't one of the gym's brochures, like he thought earlier. _I should ask Kazuma to see if he can find anything that could confirm my suspicions..._

* * *

Ryuu glanced at his reflection in the pool for a few seconds, taking a short break from his search for clues. He kept his frustration to himself. Despite Kanegawa-san's unprofessional demeanor during his interrogation, she clearly did her job (as she said she had) and had cleaned the pool last night. However, that made it harder to find any evidence. The water had washed away any traces of blood or hair that may have come from either the killer or the victim, and any towels provided by the gym had already been taken to the laundry room and cleaned. _Was she cleaning up evidence of her crime?_

 _What about the cause of the blunt force trauma?_ Ryuu thought. _Is there anything hard enough to knock her unconscious here at the pool?_

His eye caught the glint of the metal connecting the diving board to the ladder leading up to it. _…! It couldn't be!_

He hurried there, and sure enough, there was blood and hair stuck to it. He took a few samples to send to the forensics lab, so he could confirm that it was the victim's.

* * *

Kyuu stopped in the lounge, feeling the strange atmosphere in the room as the three suspects sat there. Hearing a small whirring noise that no one else seemed to detect, Kyuu pinpointed it to the corner, where a security camera sat. _If Kazuma hasn't done it already, we should get him to review the footage. That could prove Minabuchi-san's alibi._

He then turned to look at the suspects. Kanegawa-san seemed to be patting Minabuchi-san on the shoulder, offering her condolences. _A love triangle, maybe?_ Sugase-san sat on his own, his arms crossed over his chest.

 _From what Ryuu told me, Kanegawa-san wasn't on good terms with Yamaguchi-san. And Kinta mentioned that Sugase-san was the victim's classmate, although they weren't friends. So…I guess that leaves…_

"Minabuchi-san, can I ask you one more thing? In private?" Kyuu stressed. The victim's boyfriend followed the Class Q detective out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

"Minabuchi-san, what I'm about to ask you may be hard to hear, but please answer honestly." The marine biologist nodded, his expression tense with anxiety.

"Did Yamaguchi-san… ever seem to contemplate suicide?"

Minabuchi-san was momentarily caught off guard by the question, but returned with an explosive "No! She would never do something like that."

Kyuu, taken off guard by the loud response provided by the quiet man, nodded. The conviction in Minabuchi's tone was so very strong that he didn't bother asking him if he was sure. Sure, another detective might question Kyuu believing the suspect so easily, but they weren't there to witness the exchange that had just happened.

 _Yamaguchi Misao was definitely murdered._


	14. Kazuma, the Computer Genius

Thanks for reviewing, Kaitou, desamontello12, and D C JoKeR H S! It was fun reading all of your deductions!

Kaitou: Sorry if the murder didn't seem clear! I was doing it on purpose because D C JoKeR H S was right about there being a red herring (or is there more than one?). But I am impressed that you picked up on a few of the clues that actually pertained , so good job!

desamontello12: …And it seems like the red herring(s) I threw onto the story confused you too. Sorry about that! I'll explain about the nameplates in this chapter. However, I'd like to clarify that in the last chapter, I meant to imply that the brochure **looked like** one of those health brochures. It wasn't necessarily about dieting. And about Minabuchi-san yelling, let's just say he was very upset. I hope all of these hints help you in figuring out who the culprit is.

D C JoKeR H S: Awesome! You picked up on the fact that there was at least one red herring in the story. But is it the correct one? You've got a well thought-out theory, though. Let's see if it's correct.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Also, for anyone who is deducing the murderer, this will be your last chance to figure out who it is before Kyuu! And flamers, be warned: Romeo from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will use your flames against you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Taking off his glasses, Kazuma rubbed at his eyes wearily. After staring at the computer screen for what felt like hours, he was starting to get tunnel vision (which was saying something, since that was basically his life as a computer game creator). As soon as he put his vision enhancers back on, he blinked… and suddenly jumped in his seat at the bench in the gym's lobby. He had to flail about before regaining his balance.

Why? Because all four of his classmates were staring at him from behind the computer.

Kinta started laughing at his reaction. Megu and Ryuu were more polite as they hid their amused smiles, while Kyuu merely smiled at him sympathetically. "Are you okay?"

Kazuma was amazed that Kyuu didn't laugh along with Kinta (which he used to do sometimes if it didn't hurt anyone's feelings), but he hid it behind an exasperated sigh directed at Kinta. He wasn't really annoyed by Kinta's childish antics, although he wished he would stop laughing.

He nodded to Kyuu in response to his question, as Kinta's laughter started to wind down. Kazuma then asked, "So, did you guys find anything?"

He received four nods, and Megu spoke up first. "I found two things in the women's locker room. One, Yamaguchi-san's locker had a golden nameplate, and Kanegawa-san's had a silver one. Like how the Olympics hands out gold medals for first place, and silver for second. And Ryuu, didn't you sense some bitterness between Kanegawa-san?" Here, the blue-haired boy nodded and Megu continued. "So I was wondering if Kanegawa-san lost to Yamaguchi-san in some sort of competition?"

"And you want me to see if there were any news articles about that," Kazuma said in understanding. "What was the second thing?"

Megu held up a plastic evidence bag holding a bottle of pills. "These were a bottle of sleeping pills I found in Yamaguchi-san's locker. I made a phone call to her doctor, who confirmed that they were prescribed because Yamaguchi-san had had trouble sleeping lately. It looks like Minabuchi-san was telling the truth about her being more tired lately."

Everyone fell silent, thinking about the implications of Megu's findings. After a few moments, the silence was broken by Kinta.

"Actually, I think you might want to search for news articles about this, too," Kinta added, handing a plastic bag with what looked like a brochure inside to Kazuma. Kazuma stared at the title. "Is this-?"

"Yeah, a brochure describing how to deal with bullying. I found it under the bench press that Sugase-san was working out on."

"Why would he have one of those?" Kyuu asked. "He seemed so strong, when I saw him in that lounge."

"Just because he's strong now doesn't mean he was always strong…" Ryuu said, frowning as he thought about it. Kyuu gave him a strange look, although no one noticed.

"Yeah, I guess he could have been pretty scrawny and thin a few years ago," Kinta trailed off, his statement full of doubt.

Megu snapped her fingers. "Ah! Didn't he attend the same high school as Yamaguchi-san? Maybe there's a connection there?"

Kazuma nodded, adding it onto a digital list of news articles to search for. As he did so, Ryuu told them about finding the blood and hair on the metal rung leading to the diving board, and sending samples to the lab. When he finished, Megu frowned. "That's a strange place to find blood and hair…"

Ryuu nodded. "I'm thinking that that was what caused the blunt force trauma on the victim's head. So I am waiting on the results from the lab."

Everyone nodded in acceptance, and turned to Kyuu. The Class Q leader said, "I don't think the victim killed herself. When I asked Minabuchi-san if Yamaguchi-san was contemplating suicide, he denied it."

Ryuu watched him carefully. "Do you think he was lying so he could cover the fact that he was the murderer?"

"No," Kyuu shook his head. "He seemed to be the closest to her, of all the suspects. He was really convinced that she wasn't suicidal, and my gut says that he's right."

Ryuu and the others nodded in acceptance. Despite the fact that the police wouldn't accept this as evidence, they trusted Kyuu's instincts. After all, even before the kidnapping, they (about crimes, at least) were rarely off. Sometimes, they led to some amazing deductions.

Then, Kyuu continued. "Kazuma, do you think you could pull up the security footage? I saw that there was a security camera in the lounge, as well as one looking out into the parking lot. If Minabuchi-san is seen waiting in the lounge, then leaving at 9:30, we can prove that he didn't kill Yamaguchi-san."

Kazuma nodded, his eyes now trained on the security footage as the two different searches running on his laptop. When he looked up, Ryuu had left the room (to get the results from the lab without distracting him, Megu explained) as the other three stared at him expectantly. Kazuma rolled his eyes. "I'm a computer genius, not a miracle worker. Give me and my programs some time and space to work."

He smirked to himself as the others in the room raised their hands in surrender and backed off, deciding to keep themselves occupied for a few hours.


	15. And the Drowner Is, Part I

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S and Kaitou!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Warning: Chelia from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will blow away any flames!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Class Q stood together at the pool, facing the three suspects, who were seated on the front row of the bleachers. Detective Odajima and a couple of his men stood to the side, ready to hear the DDS students deliver their verdict. The atmosphere was full of tension, which was broken by the detective.

"So, DDS, have you figured out the mystery behind Yamaguchi-san's murder?"

"Ah," Ryuu confirmed. After getting the results from the lab, as well as the information from Kazuma's laptop, he and Kyuu had figured out what had happened, pretty easily. "We have determined that the victim was most likely murdered at the time of death, between 9 and 11 p.m. last night. Water was found in her lungs, meaning that she had been drowned. A professional swimmer would most likely to know what his or her limits are when it comes to going up for air, so it was unlikely to be an accident."

"Could she have been suicidal?" asked Sugase-san.

Minabuchi-san shook his head vehemently. "No! She was my girlfriend! I know that she would never do anything like that!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't take your word for it, Minabuchi-san," Odajima said apologetically.

"You won't have to," Kinta pointed out. "We found some blood and hair belonging to the victim that had been left on the metal railing of the ladder leading up to the diving board. If she had been suicidal, wouldn't she just hold her breath after diving in? There was no reason to harm herself further before death."

"Also, the blow to the back of the head was the only external injury that could have caused blood and hair to be left behind. Due to the placement of the injury, it was unlikely that it had been self-inflicted. So how did it get there?" asked Kazuma.

Everyone but the DDS students thought about it, but Kanegawa-san, who made the connection first, gasped. "You mean, someone else hit her on the back of her head?"

"Exactly," Megu nodded. "Meaning that someone wanted to harm her. And that someone killed her."

"And did you figure out who did it?" the inspector asked eagerly.

"Ah. There were three hints," Kyuu said. "And there could only be one answer!" The rest of Class Q were smiling, caught off guard by the familiar words. It was as if Kyuu had never been gone for all of those months.

.

.

.

"So, what were the three hints?" asked Odajima.

"One, the lockers in the women's locker room. Two, the security footage of the lounge. And three, this brochure." Here, Kyuu held up the bagged piece of evidence, just barely snatching the piece of evidence away from the hands of the police officers. "Actually, I'll hold on to this for a while. It'll keep things interesting." Everyone eyed him curiously, but the men in blue shrugged and backed away at the urging of their superior.

Odajima piped up, deciding to let the matter go in order to get the in estimation rolling. "So, you mentioned the lockers in the women's locker room? Were you talking about the sleeping pills found in Yamaguchi-san's belongings?"

"No," said Megu. "I already investigated that lead. As I was interviewing him, Minabuchi-san mentioned that Yamaguchi-san had been sleepy lately. I noticed that it was the bottle's label was for a strong prescribed sleeping pill, so I followed up with her doctor, who confirmed that Yamaguchi-san herself had been having trouble getting to sleep, and that the pills would knock her out for hours. And before anyone asks, the murderer probably didn't know she had such medication, if he or she went to the trouble of hitting her on the back of her head in order to drown her."

"So does this rule me out as a suspect?" asked Minabuchi.

"Yes, although it's not just because of that," said Kazuma. "From the second hint, I analyzed the security footage from the camera up there, and the one from the parking lot, and was able to confirm your alibi. You were seen here until 9:30. We then tried the route that you told us you took as you searched for Yamaguchi-san and timed ourselves. You reached the parking lot at a similar time, and drove off."

Sugase-san raised an eyebrow. "But isn't it possible to hack security footage and edit it?"

"Well, normally yes. However, the system was strongly encrypted, making it very hard to hack in. In fact, it even took me a few hours to get through it. And I was once known as the 'king of computer games'. Unless one of you has a secret master's degree in computer science, I highly doubt that any of you could have accessed the mainframe."

Sugase-san looked taken aback, but burst out into laughter. "That's impressive. I see your point, kid."

"Wait," Odajima interrupted, looking confused. "So, what did you find in the women's locker room, if it wasn't the pills?"

"I saw that the nameplate for Kanegawa-san was silver, and Yamaguchi-san's was gold. That reminded me of the medals from the Olympics, so I wondered if you had lost a swimming competition to her. The fact that you didn't seem to be on good terms with her, even though you were a lifeguard at the pool she regularly practiced at, raised our suspicions. So we researched, and found a news article about one such swimming competition. That was the one that launched Yamaguchi-san's career as a professional swimmer."

Kanagawa-san covered her face, and groaned. She muttered, "Of course, the princess still finds a way to haunt me after death. Yeah, it's true that that competition was what led me to become a lifeguard. No one really cares about the person who was in second place. While she got the fame and money, I was stuck picking up towels after stuck-up snobs. To make matters worse, she would come here and gloat about her victory, rub it in my face. But you can't prove I killed her!" she spat.

Kinta smirked. "Yeah, but we can prove that you **didn't**."

Kanegawa-san looked at him, confused. "What?"

"The security footage over the parking lot, remember? We saw that you left at ten, like you said," explained Kinta.

"But couldn't she have killed Yamaguchi-san before ten?" asked Odajima.

"No," said Kazuma. "According to the coroner's report, there was a certain amount of force that could have caused Yamaguchi-san to sustain the head wound. By inputting the necessary information into my computer program, I calculated the height and weight of the attacker. Kanegawa-san is too light in weight to do the damage. She couldn't have killed her, no matter what the time was."

"Wait. If Kanegawa-san wasn't the killer, and I wasn't either…" Minabuchi trailed off, as everyone turned to look at Sugase-san. The muscular man suddenly did not look as collected as before.

"Yes," Kyuu nodded. "The killer is Sugase-san."

* * *

Congrats to anyone who figured it out! Stay tuned for the reasoning behind the deduction, and the other cases on their way.


	16. And the Drowner Is, Part II

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S and desamontello12. Let's see if your suspicions are correct!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Be warned: Lyon from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will extinguish any flames!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

"But why Sugase-san?" asked Odajima. "I thought he said that he didn't really know the victim."

"No," Kyuu corrected. "They went to the same high school together. However, it seems that he was lying about not knowing her."

"How would you know if I was lying or not?" Sugase-san retorted.

Kyuu held the bagged brochure up closer to Sugase-san. "Recognize this?" The personal trainer's eyes widened, and he froze as everyone else read the title.

"Is this… a brochure for an anti-bullying club?" asked Minabuchi.

"Ah. Now, you must think about why such a muscular man would be so involved with advocating anti-bullying. Why would a sports jock have such a thing? There are two explanations. One, he was a bully, who regretted his past actions. Or two, he was a victim. Either way, we decided that we would need to do some research, and we found a guidance counselor's report on a specific high school's website."

Kazuma nodded. "When I searched 'bullying', two pictures popped up, one of a younger Yamaguchi-san, and one of a very scrawny boy. Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the article and found Sugase-san's name."

Everyone turned to Sugase-san, who had shadow cast on the top half of his face. His hands shook, and he spoke so softly that everyone had to strain to hear him.

"That witch used to pick on me a lot, because I was a nerdy kid back then. One time during freshman year, we were in the same gym class. She convinced some of the boys in the class to grab my stuff while I was taking a shower. I got into trouble with the principal, and was expelled, all because I was forced to go around the school without clothes that day.

I finished online school, and applied and got into university. I was a physical fitness major, and I started weightlifting and bodybuilding, so that no one would ever pick on me again. Then, I got a job here. Imagine my surprise when my former classmate just down the hall.

We met each other as we were passing each other in the hallway, but she didn't recognize me. She even had the nerve to flirt with me. Me! The person's life she destroyed all of those years ago. That was when revenge crossed my mind. I asked her to meet me at the pool at 10:30 p.m. Luckily for me, no one was there at the pool.

I confronted her about what she had done. Do you know what she did?! She just laughed! So I –I got angry. I shoved her, but I didn't realize how much force I had put behind it. She hit her head on the metal ladder leading to the diving board. She was only unconscious, so I panicked. If she told anyone about the assault, my life would be ruined for a second time. By the same person, no less! So I held her underwater. Eventually she stopped breathing altogether."

"And she died," said Kyuu, his eyes on the personal trainer.

"And she died," repeated Sugase-san, his tone unreadable.

Odajima sighed, motioning for the officers to arrest him. Before they could even take a step, however, in a blur, he rushed past the officers, and to the others' alarm, used his body weight to launch himself and Kyuu into the pool. Before they hit the water, Kyuu heard Sugase-san mutter, "I'm sorry about this, kid. Pluto told me that if I was caught, I had to escape by any means necessary. Even if it means using a hostage to do it."

Then, with a large splash, both of them sunk into the water.

.

.

.

As the bubbles cleared away, Sugase-san found that he had a grip on Kyuu's throat. The boy was struggling, arms and legs flailing about in his effort to free himself from his captor's hold. After what seemed like an eternity, Kyuu started to slow down, and his legs were still in the water.

* * *

At the same moment, everyone had rushed over and was now standing at the edge of the pool, the shock of what had just transpired still present. They tried to make out what was going on, but the two were so far deep that the others could only see two figures moving around in the water.

Kinta was getting ready to jump in after Kyuu, but Ryuu shook his head. "If you jump in now, your clothes will weigh you down. Not to mention, you don't know what is going on. You could inadvertently make the situation worse."

Kinta didn't like it, but he understood Ryuu's reasoning and stood down. Megu placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, her eyes betraying her worry. "We just have to have faith that he will make it out alive. He can do it. I know he can."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kyuu's legs had ceased kicking. Thinking that the boy had stopped breathing, Sugase-san started to let go of the boy's neck.

That was his big mistake.

The next thing the muscular trainer knew, Kyuu had kicked him hard in the stomach, causing him to let go of him entirely. A few bubbles escaped as the breath was knocked out of him.

Recovering from the slight pain, the annoyed Sugase-san lunged at him, trying to get a grip on him again. Kyuu dodged, just in the nick of time. In return, the boy sent another kick, this time at the murderer's shoulder. Unfortunately, it was intercepted by the target himself, who grabbed the boy's ankles and flung him headfirst toward the wall of the pool. Kyuu managed to reorient himself so that his feet hit the hard surface instead, and he used the same force to push himself toward the personal trainer.

Sugase-san may have had size and strength, but here in the water, the smaller Kyuu had speed and agility. Adding that to the fact that Sugase-san was getting more and more agitated, Kyuu formed a plan. He ducked from a hard punch aimed at his head, and as his attacker's body swung from the momentum of the move, Kyuu _moved_.

As the muscular man studied his surroundings, he frowned. _Where was that kid?!_

He felt a creeping sensation crawl up his back. However, before he could turn around, Kyuu's foot connected with the back of his head via a particularly strong kick. As his world turned to back, he remembered wondering regretfully, "Was this how Yamaguchi-san felt?"

* * *

Up at the edge of the pool, Kazuma turned to Ryuu, panicked. "How long has it been since Kyuu was taken underwater?"

Minabuchi-san checked his watch. He paled, and with a trembling voice, said that it had been four minutes. Megu inhaled sharply, Kyuu's shoulders tense at the sound. Most people could hold their breaths underwater for only two minutes. It had been twice that long. Not to mention, Kyuu had been caught off guard, and probably hadn't had enough time to draw in a full breath. "But-"

Before she could finish that sentence, the sound of someone breaking the surface of the water and gasping for breath made them freeze, and the police officers reflexively drew their guns, only to lower them at the sight.

 _Kyuu was swimming toward the edge of the pool, with an unconscious Sugase-san slung over his back._

Class Q was stunned into silence, staring speechlessly as Kyuu let the officers haul the killer out of the water before heaving himself up onto the floor by the bleachers.

As he went towards the men's locker room to dry himself off, he sent a knowing smirk over his shoulder.

 _Oh, by the way, Kinta, Kazuma, I do know how to swim, thank you very much._


	17. How Kyuu Learned to Swim

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S and desamontello12! I'm glad that I can still surprise you this late in the story!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Warning: Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson will stop any flames with his water powers (sorry, I ran out of elemental anime characters who I knew).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

For the first ten minutes, the ride home was silent, as everyone tried to figure out how Kyuu had been able to swim.

And how Kyuu was able to defeat such a dangerous opponent in the water. That, too.

But they were more preoccupied with the first thing.

All of them had realized that he had most likely picked it up during his time missing, However, they were curious about the specifics, and were now racking their brains trying to figure out how to broach the subject without reminding him about the torture he had gone through.

After a few minutes, Kyuu, who was in the passenger seat of the DDS vehicle (that was currently being driven by Ryuu), sighed with exasperation and twisted his upper body around to face Kinta, Kazuma, and Megu. "If you want to ask me about how I got my newfound swimming abilities so badly, just go ahead. I won't be upset."

Ryuu's lips twitched as the three DDS students visibly jumped, their eyes wide. How did Kyuu know what they had been thinking?

"D-did you just read our minds?!" Kinta blurted out in surprise. When his mind caught up to what he just said, he started to turn red, only to turn redder at everyone's snickers.

"No," Kyuu replied, his smirk now visible. "Given what just happened at the pool, it was obvious what you were thinking. And your thoughts were perfectly natural-you guys must have been pretty shocked when I came up with Sugase-san in tow. Oh, I almost forgot! Thanks for keeping me away from the pool while we were interrogating suspects, you guys."

This time, everyone blushed. Megu spoke up, "Sorry, Kyuu. We didn't mean to offend you-"

Kyuu waved her off. "It's fine. Like I said before, it was natural, since you didn't know I could swim."

"So," Kazuma piped up. "How _did_ you learn how to swim? And defeat Sugase-san?"

Kyuu replied, after a moment of hesitation. "Well, do you guys remember how Pluto trained me for about a month after my first…torture session?" After receiving four nods, Kyuu continued. "Well, little by little, I was taught how to swim. At the same time, I was receiving lessons in underwater hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, they put me in a pool with an opponent I had never seen before, and I was told that if I didn't defeat him in underwater combat, something bad would happen."

"Something bad?" asked Ryuu, his eyes darting to Kyuu's in concern before they returned to the road.

Kyuu gave a short nod, a frown of regret on his lips. "During those first few days, I lost multiple times. However, soon I realized that when they said 'something bad,' they meant a few lashes with a whip for me. But the winners…I never saw them again…"

Kazuma and Ryuu's sharp intakes of breath as they realized what had happened to the unfortunate winners caught Kyuu's attention. "What?" he asked warily.

Kazuma explained about the local legend surrounding Kuzuryuu Takumi's house of horrors (A/N: read Chapter 2 if you don't remember it!). When he got to the part about the explorers turning up dead, or alive but missing their memories, Kyuu didn't look surprised-he just gave a resigned nod. "I suspected as much. After all, they were willing to kill their own members if any of them divulged Pluto's secrets to outsiders. They probably couldn't risk the winners telling everyone about what happened…"

Hoping to lighten the mood, Kinta asked, "But what about the people who were alive?"

Kinta's attempt worked, as Kyuu perked up. "Oh, I convinced Pluto that I could erase their memories of the house, and of Pluto as soon as they woke up from their unconscious states. I don't really like hypnotizing people, but if I can get them away from Pluto alive, I would gladly do it."

Everyone smiled as they hid their mixed emotions. They were happy that their friend had made it through his six months with Pluto with his values intact. However, they were still upset that he had to go through it at all…

Just then, Ryuu stiffened as a realization hit him, glancing at Kyuu again. "Do you think Pluto will come after you, since you escaped?"

The mood dampened almost immediately. Kyuu gave him a calculating look, although he quickly hid it behind a reassuring smile. "Well, I'm sure some others have escaped and still survive to this day. As long as I keep my face away from the press, I should be okay. Then again," he continued with a nonchalant tone, "I think that after that last torture session, Odin had left me to die, so I don't know if Pluto knows if I'm still even alive."

As the others exhaled breaths of relief, Ryuu had frozen, his knuckles white on the steering wheel as he stared ahead blankly. _Does Kyuu know about my past with Pluto, and King Hades? Will I have to leave?_

He then dismissed the thought, relaxing his grip. _If Kyuu knew, he would have alerted DDS. Or at the very least, kicked me out of his and Renjo-san's house._ He then turned his attention to the road and to the conversation going on behind him.

He didn't see Kyuu give him a sympathetic look before continuing exchanging words and jokes with the three DDS students in the back.

* * *

One case down, two to go!


	18. Kazuma's a Witness?

Thanks for the reviews, Kaitou, D C JoKeR H S, and desamontello12!

Kaitou: Yup! You got it right on the money. However, my plans for this story are telling me that we will have to wait a little before that happens. ;)

desamontello12: Haha, I bet that was a huge surprise. I think your first fanfiction sounds interesting so far, but may I make a suggestion? Check your grammar by reading it out loud to yourself. I find that this causes me to sound less awkward in my writing, as well as make fewer mistakes in spelling and grammar. It also tells you if you should add some details in order to clarify a point.

Sorry for the late update! I had to adjust to being on campus again. Speaking of which, updates will happen less frequently, since I am in school mode now. But the important thing is that they will happen (at least once a week is what I can promise for now).

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Warning: Rick Riordan's Jason Grace will make it rain on your flames!

I don't really know anything about martial arts or even hand-to-hand combat, so I apologize in advance if my descriptions of the fights are totally off. Or if they don't make sense.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Kyuu stood in one of the many dojos at DDS, watching as the others paired off in order to practice their hand-to-hand sparring under Hongou-sensei's watchful eye. Kazuma and Megu were up first. (A/N: remember, this was set a few years after the anime ended! Kazuma must have grown up a little, right?)

Bowing to each other, Kazuma, who was wearing contacts in anticipation of today's class (instead of his usual glasses), allowed Megu to make the first move. As she swung her arm towards his chest in a straight punch, he arched backwards at an impressive angle, narrowly avoiding the hit. He retaliated with a front kick toward her leg, which she managed to pull away at the last second. The sparring session went on, with Kazuma gradually taking the offensive (getting more and more aggressive with each attack) and Megu gracefully dodging his hits. At the last second, Megu dodged a particularly vicious side kick, and sprung forward with a burst of speed. She hit Kazuma's shoulder with a right cross, hard enough to get him to fall on his back. When he regained his breath and his eyes were able to focus, he realized that he (rather, his manhood) was in a dangerous position, with Megu's knee hovering over his groin.

Hongou-sensei blew his whistle, signaling the end of the match. Megu helped Kazuma up and they both approached him. As they came to a stop in front of him, he nodded, pleased with their progress. "Well done, both of you. Kazuma, you have shown an increase in strength, and Megu, continue finding and using your opponents' weaknesses against them. Next will be Kinta and me."

They bowed, and Hongou-sensei indicated to Kinta that he could go first. Kinta grinned, and sent a flying kick toward the side of his opponent's face. However, before it reached its intended target, Hongou-sensei smirked and gripped Kinta's ankle. Twisting his wrist, he caught Kinta off balance, the younger male flailing as he landed on the ground. The battle continued in a similar manner, with Kinta on the offensive and Hongou-sensei defending himself, and still managing to land Kinta on his back. But Kinta was nothing if not stubborn, and he was always back on his feet within a few seconds. However, after the twentieth time of getting the wind knocked out of him, Kinta was feeling the bruises (which were invisible, for now anyways), and with a groan, he surrendered. Nevertheless, Hongou-sensei congratulated him on his endurance and persistence as he helped him up. "Great job. A martial artist should know when to retreat. That way, he can recover from his injuries and learn from his mistakes."

Kinta grumbled under his breath as he, Kazuma, Megu, and Hongou-sensei turned to the last two people in the room. In the past, Ryuu and Kyuu had always been paired off for sparring sessions, even before the six months when Kyuu been missing. Ryuu usually won back then, but somehow, today felt different. Maybe it was because no one knew what he had learned during his time with Pluto. Or maybe it was because they had just witnessed him defeat a large man underwater. Whichever factor it was, they all had the feeling that the winner of this match would not be as easily predicted.

However, before either Kyuu or Ryuu could make a move, let alone bow to each other, the bell rang, and it was time for their next class. Before they left, they faced Hongou-sensei, who simply said, "We will finish this another day. Get to class!"

* * *

Kazuma treaded on the sidewalk, on his way to the bank. A video game company had just signed a large check for his latest creation, and he was using the proceeds to pay off the last of the thirty million yen debt he owed in the case involving his home economics teacher and her son. He had opted out of taking the Rolls-Royce, since it screamed the fact that he was rich. And he would not like to be kidnapped for ransom or killed, thank you very much.

As he neared the bank doors, he froze, sensing that something was off. Following his instincts, he ducked into an alleyway across the street (that had a perfect view of the glass doors and walls of the bank), and watched from the shadows as a masked figure raised something in the air. What was it? He squinted, but he couldn't make it out. However, as the masked figure moved the object, he saw the glint of metal, his heart skipping a beat at the sight.

 _A gun!_

Pulling his phone out, he dialed the number for the local police first, then DDS. They had to know about this. As he waited for the police to pick up, he continued to keep an eye on what was happening inside the bank.

* * *

At DDS, the rest of the members of Class Q were chatting to each other before the school day began, when Dan-sensei rolled in, and the students automatically fell into attention. "Everyone, there has been a situation at the nearby bank. A masked figure robbed it at gunpoint a few hours ago, and a customer, Tatsuya Hayami, a 35-year-old doctor, was killed. Ten million yen has also been stolen. The police arrived quickly on the scene, so we are fairly certain that the robber is still inside the building. However, since the police have made their presence known, the robber has most likely taken off his mask to blend in with the people in the bank. The thing is, no one at the bank could identify him."

"Shouldn't Kazuma know about this?" Kinta questioned. He and the others had been wondering where their classmate was.

"Kazuma was the one who alerted the police," Dan-sensei said grimly, to the surprise of Class Q. "Now, the suspects have been detained for further questioning, and the police have asked for your help. Class Q, move out!"

"Hai!" The four students chorused. However, each of them was worried. What exactly had the young computer genius witnessed?


	19. A Witness's Statement

Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12 and D C JoKeR H S!

desamontello12: You're welcome! I wish you the best of luck in your story!

And if you didn't read the author's note in the last chapter, please note that updates will happen less frequently-about once a week-since I'm back in school mode. My classes and work are taking up a lot of my free time, so please be patient with me as I get my updates in!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback. Warning: Rick Riordan's Leo Valdez will take away any flames!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Kazuma was giving his statement to a police officer, when he saw the familiar DDS vehicle pull up to the crime scene. As soon as he finished talking, he ducked out of the police tape and went over to meet with his classmates.

"Are you okay, Kazuma?" Megu asked, concern evident on her face as she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He nodded. "Ah. I'm just a little bit tired of answering questions over and over again," he said wearily. The fact that he didn't even protest when Kinta ruffled his hair affectionately spoke volumes about how tired he was.

"Actually, Kazuma, would you mind telling us about it? We'll need to know, since Dan-sensei put us on the case," Ryuu said in an apologetic tone.

"Really? Wouldn't this be considered a conflict of interest, since I'm a part of Class Q?"

"Maybe, but I talked to Dan-sensei after class, and he said that the other DDS students were too busy. Class A would have investigated it, but they had another case to solve," Kyuu shrugged.

"Oh, all right," said Kazuma. Taking a sip of the bottle of water handed to him by Kinta, Kazuma began his story.

"I was walking to the bank to cash in a check for a video game I had designed. As I got closer, I glanced through the glass doors and I saw a masked person and someone else standing in the bank. I couldn't just walk in-the criminal would probably make me another hostage, and there was no one else on the streets who would raise an alarm if I disappeared into the bank and didn't come out for hours. But I couldn't leave the person alone. So I hid in a nearby alleyway, which had a good view of the bank.

After a few minutes, the masked person shouted something, and raised something with a metallic glint in the air. When I figured out that it was a gun, I dialed the police, but as I was waiting for them to pick up, I heard a small popping noise, and when I looked, someone was lying on the ground, and the shooter had disappeared. I realized that the noise I heard was a gunshot, so I reported what happened to the police, and told them that I was a DDS student. But if I had been in there-!" Kazuma looked down, his eyes hidden behind his glasses as his lips pursed in a frustrated frown.

After exchanging a glance with Kinta, Kyuu, Ryuu, and Megu decided to leave the computer genius and the martial arts practitioner alone, and made their way to talk to the police. Kazuma was so tired that he didn't even notice the others go away.

Kinta had decided that it was his job, as Kazuma's best friend (despite the latter's protests to the contrary), to brighten his spirits up. "But didn't you say so yourself? If you had walked in, you would be facing the criminal, and you could have been the one who died."

"But I could have stopped the victim from dying!"

"And how would you have defended yourself against a gun? Or stopped the bullet from hitting him? Remember what Hongou-sensei told me during our sparring sessions in the dojo? A good warrior should know when to retreat."

Kazuma smiled, most of his fatigue and regret draining away as determination set in. "I think he said 'a good _martial artist_ should know when to retreat'…but okay. You're right. Now, I'm just ready to start solving this case."

"I think you just read my mind," Kinta smiled. They watched as the others came back to them. "The police have approved of letting us on the crime scene," Ryuu said. He, Kyuu, and Megu read the body language and atmosphere between the two, and they relaxed as they saw that Kinta had gotten through to Kazuma.

"Good. Let's go," said Kazuma, his mind now focused on gaining justice for the man who had died in front of his eyes.

* * *

The beautiful brunette female inspector standing by the front door to the bank greeted them with an easy smile, and shook all of their hands, putting them on an equal social level with her. "I'm Inspector Fujikawa Hana. I'm sure you've already heard about this from your headmaster, but let me review the facts just in case. Six hours ago, a masked figure robbed the bank vaults of ten million yen, and shot and killed a customer, Tatsuya Hayami, a thirty-five year old doctor who worked at a local hospital.

Thanks to your quick call, Narusawa-san, we were able to arrive quickly on scene, and block off any exits that could have been used by the shooter. However, we couldn't find the masked shooter in the building, so we assumed he must have disposed of the mask, cash, and gun somewhere on the premises, and we are still searching for them. In the meantime, the three people who were in the bank other than the victim are standing over there, and one of them must have been the shooter. We just don't know which one, and that's where you come in."

Everyone nodded in understanding, but somewhere in the back of their minds, they were wondering about one thing. Megu decided to ask, being the only one brave enough to do it. "Why are you being so cooperative with us? DDS students usually have to work a little bit to impress police detectives. Your colleagues usually dislike us because no offense, but we can do their jobs easier and faster than they can."

"None taken," Hana-san replied. "The thing is, I have worked with DDS on an earlier case, but with a different class-Class A. They solved the case fairly quickly, and I was impressed. If you are taught by the same people who taught them, I have no doubt that you will succeed in solving this case. However, there was this one student-Saburomaru-san, I believe. He didn't seem to be as…quick at deducing as the others."

Even Ryuu was struggling to keep his composure as the others snorted or smirked. If only their arrogant schoolmate was here to see such a beautiful inspector insulting him…


	20. Megu's Choice: Kyuu vs Ryuu

Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12 and D C JoKeR H S! (And desamontello12, I know, right?!)

Wow…This will be my 20th chapter! That's the most I've ever written in any story.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback (except flames, so none of those, please).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Stepping in to the bank, Inspector Fujikawa turned back to them and explained, "These were the only people who were there at the time of the victim's death—the manager, Kawazu Kiyoshi, the teller, Otsuka Fusae, and the security guard, Kiski Shintaro. Just so you know, we haven't mentioned our suspicions of one of them being the shooter, so I would be discreet in my questioning if I were you." As she said this, she pointed over to the lounge usually reserved for customers, where a large man paced, a man of medium build stood, and a woman sat. Then she glanced at her phone, which displayed an incoming call. "I'm sure that you have some method that you usually use to solve the case. I'll let you do your thing."

After watching her walk away to get some privacy for her phone call, Kyuu glanced at the others. "We'll have to do this fast. The suspects can only be detained for so long before they start getting suspicious or nervous. Let's split up; it'll save time."

Everyone nodded. Kinta snuck a glance at Kazuma, but before he could pick him as his partner again, Megu stepped up and said, "I'll go with Kazuma to talk to the bank teller."

Over Kazuma's head, Kinta stared at her curiously, but Megu gave him a look that told him to back off. He did so, raising his hands defensively. No one was going to stop her from taking her turn in comforting her friend. No one.

Ryuu spoke up next, not noticing the interaction between the two classmates. Even though a week had passed since the last case, his mind was still whirring with the implication that Kyuu might have known of his past with Pluto. "I'll go with you, Kyuu. Why don't we talk to the manager?"

Kyuu nodded his assent, and Kinta sighed in mock defeat. "I guess that leaves me with the guard."

Kazuma snorted. "Like you weren't going to choose him anyway."

"What can I say? Have you seen how fit he is? If he turns out to be the one who did it, I call first dibs on chasing him!" grinned Kinta.

Kyuu hid his laugh as everyone else rolled their eyes. It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed.

* * *

As Megu and Kazuma strode up to Otsuka Fusae, Megu glanced at Kazuma. "How are you doing?" she asked sympathetically. It must have been a shock to see someone killed right in front of you.

Kazuma opened his mouth to say that he was fine, but thought better of it. "I'll admit that I'm still a little upset. But that just makes me more determined to solve the case."

Megu smiled. "Good. But just remember, if something happened, you can always talk to me, or any of us, if you need to."

"Thanks…What about you?" Kazuma asked.

"Huh?" asked Megu.

"How are you dealing with Kyuu's return?"

Megu jumped. How did he know what she had been thinking about? "W-what do you mean?"

Kazuma rolled his eyes. Literally everyone other than the boy himself knew that Megu had a crush on Kyuu. And that she had had a thing for Ryuu before that. He wondered what had happened to change that…

"We all know about your crush on him, you know."

"WHAT?!" she shrieked, her face going as red as a tomato. Everyone in the vicinity, including Kyuu and Ryuu, turned to look at her, but she turned away in embarassment.

"So?" Kazuma prodded. He didn't really want to talk to Megu about her relationships, but someone had to. Kinta and Ryuu didn't seem like good choices, and Kyuu was out for obvious reasons, so that left him.

"…Okay, I'll admit that I was really shocked when we saw Kyuu again. Months and months of chasing down leads, and suddenly we find him flatlining on an old lab table. Then, he recovers, and on his first case, he can suddenly swim. And take out opponents underwater. What if he's changed a lot from the guy we all knew?"

"Well, I don't think he's changed that much," said Kazuma as Megu gave him a doubtful look. "No, really! Sure, he's gotten better at swimming, and he may have more social awareness, but he's still the same Kyuu. He was the one who directed us away from Minabuchi-san as the suspect based on his gut instinct, which led us to solving the case. And hey, he was acting normally until he dove into the water!"

Megu thought about his words, and smiled. "You're right. Thanks for the pep talk."

Before Kazuma could ask her if she would ever confess to Kyuu, they had already approached Otsuka Fusae.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kyuu and Ryuu were walking toward their suspect, when they heard a shriek. Both stopped in their tracks, and scanned the vicinity for the screamer. When they saw that it was Megu, who blushed and turned away when she saw them, Kyuu turned to Ryuu with a mystified look on his face. "What was that about?"

Ryuu shrugged. "No clue." Inwardly though, he could make a guess. There was only one thing that would cause the pinkette to turn red upon seeing them. He thought about the last time he had seen her face so red…

* * *

Six weeks ago

 _After following a lead in the search for Kyuu, Class Q had stumbled across yet another dead end. In his frustration, as soon as Kinta got into the classroom, he grabbed his bag and left, obviously intending to hit the gym and go a few rounds with a punching bag. Kazuma gave Ryuu and Megu a sad, weary smile that looked utterly devoid of hope._

 _Megu's breath caught in her chest. She hated that look. It brought out the older sister part of her that wanted to wipe that look off the computer genius' face. Before she could say anything to comfort him, he was already out the door, leaving her with Ryuu. In the classroom. Alone._

 _The blush was back on her face. She hated it. How could she still be focused on her crush when her friend (and if she was honest with herself, her other crush) was out there, maybe dead? However, these thoughts didn't stop her from blurting out, "So…d-do you think we'll ever find Kyuu?"_

 _As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted saying them. Ryuu's back, which had been turned to her, stiffened. Why did she say that? She knew that he and Kyuu had a best friend-like relationship, like the one between Kinta and Kazuma. He must be mad at her now…_

 _However, when Ryuu turned to her, she was taken aback by his expression. Instead of its usual stoic look, he looked sad. And something else. Guilty, maybe? But what could he be feeling guilty for? In response to her question, Ryuu said, "Yes."_

 _Megu was startled out of her thoughts. "What?"_

 _"Yes. I believe that we will see Kyuu again. After all, we have to have faith that he has survived these last five months somehow. Otherwise, what kind of friends would we be?"_

 _Megu paused as she took his comment in, and smiled. This was the kind of thing that added to her crush on him. Feeling a boost in her confidence, she said, "A-ano…"_

 _"Hmm?"_

 _"I think I love you!" she said, a little too loudly as she squeezed her eyes shut. No! no! no! That wasn't how she planned her confession to go!_

 _A few moments went by without a response, and Megu could feel the awkwardness and tension grow. Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. In front of her stood Ryuu, who wore a small, apologetic smile._

 _Her heart sunk as Ryuu continued to look at her kindly. "I'm sorry, Megu, but I don't return your feelings."_

 _"What? W-why not?" she asked, fighting back the tears that threatened to come. Inside, however, she wondered why she didn't feel like her heart was torn in two._

 _"Because I don't think I'm the right one for you," he said. Then he mumbled in a much softer voice, "And because you wouldn't have such feelings for me if you knew about my past."_

 _"What was that last part?"_

 _"Nothing! And besides, I've seen how you look at Kyuu."_

 _"W-what?!" Megu asked, a hotter blush spreading across her cheeks._

 _"Oh, never mind, just wishful thinking," Ryuu answered innocently._

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I just decided that I would try and make this story Kyuu x Megu. Why? One, I think there's too few Kyuu x Megu in this fanfiction site, and two, I don't think I have the ability to write a Kyuu x Ryuu fic. I already have zero romantic experiences to go on as is, so even the Kyuu x Megu idea might not go far either…I apologize to the people who ship Ryuu X Megu or Kyuu x Ryuu, but I hope you'll continue to read and review this story!


	21. The Guard, Teller, and Manager

Hey, everyone! It seems that my pen is flowing with words, so I decided to squeeze in two chapters in on today's update. So please remember to read the previous chapter if this one doesn't make sense.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

For his part, Kinta had heard Megu's squeal, but after seeing her blush when Kyuu and Ryuu looked at her, he decided that as her (and Kazuma's) honorary big brother, he didn't want to know. (Actually, he did. He decided to tease her about it later. What were big brothers for?)

He put on a closed eyed smile as he greeted the large, 39-year-old, black-haired guard, Kiski Shintaro. "Hello, Shintaro-san! My friends and I would like to ask you some questions."

The pacing guard came to a stop in front of Kinta. He asked with some confusion, "Why would a bunch of kids want to ask me some questions? What have the cops been reduced to nowadays?"

Kinta's eye twitched, and he held up his notebook. "Actually, we're from DDS."

The guard took a step back. Huh. So he had heard of the school. "Oh, sorry about that. What would you like to know?"

"Where were you when the shooting occurred?"

"I stepped out to have a smoke, so I was in the alleyway" he said, fiddling with a cigarette box in his breast pocket.

"Did anyone know you were there?"

"Yeah, I told the manager where I was going," he explained. "It's required whenever I take a break."

"One more thing−did you know the victim, Tatsuya Hayami?"

The man's shoulders stiffened for a millisecond before relaxing. "No, I can't say I do."

Pasting a pleasant smile on his lips, Kinta said, "Thank you for your time. Please hang around in case we have any questions."

Unbeknownst to the Shintaro-san, Kinta's sharp eyes had caught the body language. _Hmm…why did he lie about that?_

* * *

Meanwhile, Kazuma and Megu were talking to the 29-year-old brunette teller of medium height, Otsuka Fusae.

"So, Otsuka-san, you were here when the shooting occurred?" questioned Megu.

"Ah," she confirmed. "I was counting the money when the guy came in, with a face mask."

"Can anyone verify that?" Kazuma asked.

"Well, Shintaro-san was out on a cigarette break, and the manager was somewhere else, so I guess not," she replied easily.

"Can you tell us anything else about the masked robber?" Megu said, hoping to jog the teller's memory.

"Hmm…I guess not. But maybe the security video recorded something? Oh! That's right, I did notice something strange."

"What was it?" asked Kazuma, his curiosity growing.

"Before the shooting occurred, I tried to use the restroom, but the door was locked. When I looked for the key to it, I couldn't find it."

"Huh," said Megu. "That IS odd. Is there a reason it could have been locked?"

"None. Everything here at the bank-the restrooms, the security cameras-must be functional in order to provide security to our top clients."

"Hmm. We'll have to investigate that matter. What about the victim? Did you know him?" Kazuma glanced up from typing into his computer.

"Yes, Hayami-san, right? Boy, he was so annoying."

The two DDS students exchanged glances. "Annoying how?" Megu asked tentatively.

"Every time he came in, he kept flirting with me and bragging about his wealth and success earned as a doctor. He would say that I should just leave my job and marry him-that way, I wouldn't have to worry about money. He was pretty rude about it too-like he didn't believe women should earn their own money, and that they couldn't do as well as men in their careers."

"Ugh," Megu said with disgust.

"You said it, sister."

"Okay, we'll let you know if we have any more questions," said Kazuma. He was all for equal rights of women, but had no desire to hear how he and other males were sexist pigs. Desperately, he scanned the area for a distraction. Hmm…it seemed that Kyuu and Ryuu needed some help. Ryuu seemed to be exchanging words with the uncooperative manager, while Kyuu stood off to the side, massaging his head as if he could get rid of the annoyance that way.

* * *

Kazuma arrived just in time to hear Ryuu say, "If I hear you say, 'I can't give away company secrets one more time…"

Wow. The 41-year-old, glasses-wearing manager Kawazu Kiyoshi must really be testing the limits of the blue-haired boy's patience if he was resorting to threatening the man for answers. He decided to intervene before Ryuu decided to actually inflict bodily damage on the manager. (He didn't doubt that it could happen-Ryuu had that kind of atmosphere around him.) "What's going on here?" he asked after getting Kyuu's attention.

Kyuu's arms were crossed. "Kawazu-san here won't answer any of our questions, claiming that it was to protect company and client information."

"Hmm. Let me try," Kazuma said thoughtfully. Despite Kyuu's protests, he stepped right in between Ryuu and the manager, and looked up at the glasses-wearing man.

At the sight of the computer genius' face, the manager's stubborn frown turned into a pleasant smile. "Ah, Narusawa-san! How may I help you?"

Kyuu and Ryuu were shocked. After all this time, they just found out how to get the manager to talk? All that time was wasted for nothing…

"Hi, Kawazu-san! What I would like you to do is answer our questions. This is for a police investigation, and I would hate for your lack of cooperation to lead to, say, the loss of business dealings with the Narusawa family."

The manager's composure dropped, leaving him a stammering mess. "O-of course, Narusawa-san. I will help you and the police to the best of my ability!"

Between snickers at the manager's bad fortune, Kyuu managed to ask Ryuu, "Just how much money does Narusawa-san have?" The other boy was shaking with silent laughter, and merely shrugged in response.

Kazuma saw them shaking with laughter and rolled his eyes at their unprofessionalism (even if he himself was hiding a knowing smirk). "Now, Kawazu-san, where were you when the shooting occurred?"

"I was in my office, making a phone call with an important client. I heard the gunshot through the door, and after waiting a few minutes to make sure it was safe, emerged. By that time, the shooter was gone."

Ryuu had recovered from his bout of laughter, and asked, "Can your client verify that?"

"No," the manager shook his head. "He's the head of a very wealthy family, a very busy businessman in the middle of an important project. He would not appreciate the disruption."

Kyuu frowned. So there was no way to prove his alibi. He then cleared his throat, and decided to tackle the questioning from another angle. "Did you know the victim?"

"Yes. Tatsuya Hayami was a 35-year-old decently wealthy doctor. He was very proud, and somewhat of a flirt. He tended to linger by Otsuka's booth a little longer than necessary. However, it seemed that she wasn't enough to make him stay at this bank-he often talked about taking his money somewhere else"

"Was there a reason why anyone would kill him?" Ryuu asked.

"Well, the hospital he is employed at had some complaints about surgical procedures. Maybe it was something related?"

"That does seem like something worth researching," Kyuu mused. He turned to the other two. "Let's go and see what Kinta and Megu found out. It sounds like we still have some work to do before solving this case!"


	22. Keys and Security

Thank you for your reviews, Kaitou and D C JoKeR H S!

Kaitou: That's an interesting theory. But I wonder if Ryuu would really care what his grandfather thought since he basically broke off all ties with Pluto when he started living with Kyuu and his mother.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

"Hmm…so you think that the guard was lying about knowing the victim, Tatsuya-san, Kinta?" asked Ryuu.

"Ah. He froze for a millisecond after I asked him if he knew him. It could be nothing, but…"

"Yeah, it sounds like you should investigate that angle. What about you, Megu, Kazuma?" Kyuu prodded.

"Otsuka-san didn't seem suspicious, just annoyed that Tatsuya-san was flirting with her and bragging about his wealth. But then again, without any evidence, we can't rule her out as a suspect just yet," Kazuma reported.

"She did mention that the women's restroom was locked, and the key was missing," Megu piped up.

"During service hours? Sounds fishy," commented Kinta. The others nodded in agreement.

Kazuma said, "Megu and I will stay here and find out more. I'll look through the security footage, in case anything turns up."

Kinta frowned. "Are you sure Kawazu-san will let you look at the tapes? He doesn't seem to be very forthcoming…"

Ryuu cracked a smile as laughter threatened to burst out of Kyuu. "I'm sure Kazuma will convince him otherwise."

Kinta and Megu looked confused. Were they missing something?

"Sorry, inside joke. Humor aside, there was something else that was suspicious," Ryuu added. "It seems that there was a conflict at the hospital the victim worked at, something about surgical procedures?"

"Sounds like a lead we'll have to follow up on," agreed Kyuu. "Kinta, maybe the guard knew the Tatsuya-san through his medical profession. I can't think of another way he could have known him. After all, it's highly unlikely that someone who bragged about his job would associate himself with a lowly paid security guard. Do you want to come with Ryuu and me to the hospital he worked at?"

"Sounds good," said Kinta, with Ryuu nodding in agreement. Everyone went their separate ways, intent on finding some answers.

* * *

Kazuma and Megu walked to the manager, who hung up and put his phone away as soon as he saw Kazuma. "Ah, Narusawa-san! What can I do for you?"

"Can I look at the security tapes? I'm sure that the security here is top-of-the-line, so don't bother trying to tell me the cameras don't work."

Kawazu-san nodded his head in defeat. Before he set off to show Kazuma where the security room was, Megu interrupted and asked, "Where are the keys to the bathrooms usually kept?"

The manager looked puzzled at the question. "At the office on the key hooks, of course. Why do you ask?"

Megu and Kazuma exchanged a look. Did the manager not notice the keys missing? "No reason," Megu decided to say. "I have to check on something. Do you mind, Kazuma?"

"No, not at all. Let's go, Kawazu-san," said the computer genius. Megu waited until they were out of sight and walked into the manager's office. Looking around, she spotted the case with the keys, and sure enough, the keys labelled "bathroom" were there. She removed the keys and headed for the bathroom.

The keys worked, and allowed her access into the previously locked women's bathroom. Stepping in, she turned on the lights. The bathroom was fairly clean, with white tiles on the walls gleaming and the floor shining. Checking each of the stalls, she found nothing, but when she checked the contents of the trash can near the paper towel dispenser, she found a ski mask and a black pair of gloves and bagged them. Stepping out, she locked the door behind her. Then, after asking Otsuka-san for directions, she went to find Kazuma.

When she walked in, Kazuma was sitting in an office chair with his back to her, looking at the mini-screens overlooking each part of the bank. "Find anything interesting?" Megu asked quietly, so that she wouldn't scare him.

"Ah. Take a look at the footage at the office," said Kazuma. Megu watched it, but nothing happened. "Kazuma? What am I looking at?"

"Today's footage…before, during, and after the shooting."

"What? But how can that be?"

"Well, Otsuka-san must have been lying about not seeing the keys. No one stepped into the office during all that time, and the manager wasn't holding them when he left."

"But I found these in the women's restroom just now!" exclaimed Megu, holding up the bagged ski mask and gloves. "And I had to open it with these keys, which I found in the office" she added, holding them up as well.

"What? Hmm...I guess that this could mean one of two things…the keys were copied, or the cameras must have blind spots the criminal knew about. I asked Kawazu-san after you left, and he said that there were only one set of keys to the bathroom-the custodians have to come in to the office to get them so that they can clean them," Kazuma explained.

"So that leaves the fact that the cameras had blind spots. I guess that makes sense-they are constantly moving, so they don't cover everything at the same time. But since all three suspects work here, and this security room is easily accessible by anyone, wouldn't they know the blind spots anyway?" Megu asked.

"Yes, unfortunately." Kazuma sighed. Looks like they had to find a new lead…

"Wait, we still haven't found where the ten million yen went! It must still be somewhere on the bank's grounds, right?" asked Megu.

Behind his glasses, Kazuma's eyes widened. He had forgotten that this was a murder AND a robbery. "That's right! Let's go look for it."


	23. Kyuu Has a Panic Attack

Hey, I decided to write another two chapters in one update! I hope you enjoy reading both chapters!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kinta, Ryuu, and Kyuu walked into the victim's workplace, Sunny Sky Hospital. At the reception desk, a beautiful young woman with glasses beamed at them.

Kinta was about to start flirting with her, when he noticed that her eyes were specifically focused on Kyuu. He raised an eyebrow. Since when were women interested in Kyuu?

He then thought about it. He hadn't really realized it (since he was still getting over the shock of his younger classmate's reappearance), but after Kyuu's release from the hospital, he had replaced his long, overgrown hair with a shorter, more stylish haircut. Add the fact that he had lost all of the baby fat, and Kyuu was really physically fit. Huh. No wonder the receptionist was staring at him.

Kyuu smiled back at the young woman, aware that her eyes were on him. He felt a little awkward that he didn't return her feelings, but pushed on. "Hi. I'm Renjo Kyuu, a student with DDS, and we would like to gain some information pertaining to our investigation into Tatsuya Hayami's death. Would you be so kind as to help us out?"

Ryuu looked on curiously as Kinta snickered at the effect Kyuu was having on her. He had seen Kyuu use his charm on the detective from the last case, but this was the first time he had seen Kyuu use it on a woman. Did this count as flirting? He wondered what Megu would have to say about this…

The young woman smiled at Kyuu. "Call me Kagami. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I don't know anything about that. But I can direct you to the head of the hospital, if you like."

"That would be great," Kyuu returned warmly. The DDS students followed the lady through the door.

* * *

Kyuu blinked as soon as he stepped into the dimly-lit hallway, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Their guide's voice sounded far away. "I'm sorry, this part of the hospital is under repair. Follow me, and you'll be fine."

From that point, Kyuu wasn't entirely sure when it started or how quickly it happened. All he knew was that he felt his breath hitch, and his breaths came out in short gasps. His ears were ringing, and his vision started to blur. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was having a panic attack, but he was lost in his memories. He was back in that dark lab in the house built by Kuzuryuu. It was silent, and Odin was about to come in anytime now and hurt him-

Something touched his shoulder, and Kyuu flinched, jerking away from the person's grip. He stumbled backwards until his back hit the wall, and he slid down into a crumpled position, his shoulders and back shaking in terror.

He felt another sensation on his shoulder, but this time it felt…comforting? That was strange…Pluto didn't do comfort. His ears stopped ringing, and he heard a voice saying, "Kyuu. It's okay, you're not at Pluto. You're with me and Kinta. You're okay. Please take a deep breath."

 _That's right…_ he was back in his old life, with his mother and DDS. He drew in several deep breaths, and as he did so, his vision cleared. Following the arm connected to the hand on his shoulder, he saw Ryuu's face, Kinta and Kagami-san behind him. All of them were looking at him with worry.

The receptionist spoke up. "Renjo-san? Are you okay?"

Kyuu gave her a shaky smile as he stood up with Ryuu's help. "Oh, I'm fine. Just a panic attack, I suppose."

"Oh," she said, with surprise. "I didn't know you were afraid of the dark."

"Neither did I," Kyuu muttered. Only Ryuu heard him, and he shot his friend a sympathetic look.

"Are you okay to go on?" asked Kinta, concern evident in his tone.

"Yes," Kyuu said steadily. They had a case to solve, as DDS students. He shouldn't let a minor roadblock get in the way.

Kagami and the other DDS students shared disbelieving looks, but they decided to go along with Kyuu's decision. Both Kinta and Ryuu silently resolved to talk to Kyuu about this later.

As they arrived at the office, Kagami motioned for the detectives to stay outside. She knocked, and poked her head through the slightly open door.

The bespectacled, 40-year-old head of the hospital looked up from his paperwork with a polite smile. "Ah, Kagami-san, what can I do for you?"

"These men are here from DDS, sir. They would like to speak to you about Tatsuya-san."

The man's shoulders sagged, but he mustered a smile at Kagami. "Thank you, Kagami-san. I will see them now."

The woman nodded and left, telling the boys to go in. Kinta decided to stand, while Ryuu made Kyuu sit beside him (with a pointed look at the mystery otaku, who rolled his eyes but sat anyway).

"I am Hideki Ichiro. So, what would you like to know about Tatsuya-san?"

"Hideki-san, we've heard that there were some complaints about the surgical procedures done here at Sunny Sky Hospital. Was Tatsuya-san connected to this somehow?" asked Ryuu.

Hideki-san sighed. "Tatsuya-san was a brilliant doctor, but he was arrogant. There were complications in a surgery he had performed to remove a tumor. The operation was thought to be a success."

"What happened?" asked Kinta, his gut already telling him the answer before the words left the man's mouth.

"The patient died, and the client's friends and family demanded answers. Unfortunately, Tatsuya-san continued to insist that he did the correct thing, his arrogance underlying his words."

"What was the patient's name?" Kyuu asked, leaning forward.

"It was…"

* * *

Who do you think is the shooter/killer? Find out soon in the next two chapters!


	24. Megu and Kazuma Find Some Evidence

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR HS!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Megu and Kazuma had agreed to split up, in order to find where the money had disappeared to. After all, if the suspect was still in the building currently held under police surveillance, that meant he or she must not have had enough time to take the money away from the premises of the crime. Megu decided to search the women's restroom more thoroughly, as well as the teller's desk, while Kazuma decided to search the manager's office and the alleyway in case the money had been dumped in the…well, the dumpster.

The teller's desk was closer to the security office, so Megu stepped in to glance through it. The security footage had shown that Otsuka-san had been here except for the ten minute break during which she had gone to the restroom and discovered that it was locked. A search through the desk and drawers didn't turn up anything suspicious. _Either she's good at hiding evidence, or she's not the robber._ She then checked the wastebasket. She noticed a few crumpled balls of paper, and upon opening them, she found the same phone number scrawled on them. _Is this whose I think it is?_ Finding nothing else out of the ordinary, she decided to move on to the restroom, vowing to show the police the number later.

Striding inside, Megu opened the windows, looked behind the toilets and inside the tanks, and even peeked behind the mirrors in case there were secret compartments behind them. In the end, she didn't find anything. She released a frustrated sigh, but she glanced at the wastebasket that had previously held the hat and gloves. Maybe it was worth a second glance? After all, it seemed unusually full. If it had been closed since the beginning of the heist, which occurred soon after the bank opened at 7 a.m. in the morning, it shouldn't have filled so quickly.

She put her gloves on, and sighed mentally at what she was about to do. Well, at least she wouldn't be the one going dumpster-diving. She felt sorry for Kazuma, or whoever would be delegated the job.

She lifted the bag of used paper towels and other products by the bottom, and let everything fall out. Sifting through it, she remembered wondering why there were so many paper towels-most didn't even look used. Then, her eyes caught a flash of faded greenish-brown. Her breath hitched. _Could it be?_

* * *

Meanwhile, Kawazu-san was having his statement taken by the police, which gave Kazuma an opportunity to search the manager's office. On a cursory glance, he found nothing out of the ordinary. Then, he focused on the key cabinet that Megu had mentioned when she told him about finding the keys. The key cabinet was clean-there wasn't really any trace that anything had been tampered with- and a glance at the notes by the office phone and a replay of the phone call (recorded for training purposes) showed that the manager had indeed been talking on the phone for a good hour before the heist began.

Kazuma frowned. How did the women's restroom get locked, then? There was no evidence that the keys had been copied, so the shooter must have used the original set. The only way would be if the manager was so caught up in the conversation with the client that he turned his back to the door to his office. He knew that the manager did have such a habit-when he was younger and his family was waiting for their appointment, Kazuma had peeked in and seen the manager do exactly that as he talked to the other person on the phone. Maybe the shooter arranged it so that the client kept the manager busy as he stole the keys?

No. He dismissed that thought. He had recognized the client's voice-it was definitely an important client, as Kawazu-san had emphasized. It was Royama Masanobu, a man whose riches rivalled that of the Narusawas. Kazuma remembered the man who was at one of the many dinner parties hosted by his family. He didn't seem like the type to be involved in a shooting, or the type to befriend any of the suspects due to their different social statuses.

Sighing, he concluded that it was unlikely that Kawazu-san was the shooter. Or the robber. _How could he forget about the money?_

Kazuma then decided to go out to the alleyway, by the dumpsters. As he took a step out of the door, he frowned as he felt something under his shoe. Lifting his foot up, he peeled a barely smoked cigarette. He wondered if it was just trash, but a nagging feeling told him that it wasn't, so he decided to bag it. Who knew? Maybe it would come in handy later.

As he stood back up, he groaned. Kinta, who was usually the one to _volunteer_ to search through the dumpster, wasn't around, so he guessed that he would have to do it. Oh well. At least he would have an excuse to buy a new outfit. This one was getting pretty old anyway.

Stacking a few milk crates on top of each other, he had a makeshift ladder. After climbing up, he peeked in and was really surprised. The inside of the dumpster looked pretty clean, with only a few trash bags inside. _I guess the garbage truck must have come by pretty recently._ He hefted himself up and over the edge of the dumpster, and landed inside it.

Putting some gloves on, the computer genius began searching through each bag. Each one was filled with basic contents-take-out food, dust bunnies, used tissues, and so on. That is, until the last one. Looking at the somewhat transparent bag, he could see a flash of greenish-brown. The color of Japanese currency. At least, that's what he hoped it was…

Kazuma's phone rang. He jumped, and after peeling off the glove on his left hand, he took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. At first he didn't recognize it, but then he realized that it was Kyuu's new phone number. After he had returned, his mother and Kazuma, as well as their classmates, had insisted that Kyuu get a phone in case he got into trouble again. Kyuu had agreed, knowing how frightened everyone had been when he had gone missing.

Clearing his head of the thought, Kazuma answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kazuma. Ryuu, Kinta, and I are back, and we learned something important that could break the whole case."

"Really? What a coincidence. So did we," said Kazuma, smirking. The shooter wouldn't know what was coming to him.

* * *

Any final thoughts about who the culprit is? I feel like this case is easier to solve than the last one, but I could be wrong…what do you think?


	25. And the Robber and Shooter Is

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR HS! And thanks for the kind gesture! Now let's see if your theory is right…

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Warning: I decided to add in a time skip, so I'll be wrapping the case up in this chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Inspector Fujikawa, a couple of policemen, Kawazu-san, Otsuka-san, Kiski-san, and all five members of Class Q were all grouped inside the bank.

"So, Class Q, one of my men tells me that you have solved the case?"

"Ah," nodded Kyuu. "There were three hints. One: the women's restroom. Two: the phone call. Three: a certain strange object we found in our search, and three: the victim's occupation."

Inspector Fujikawa looked puzzled, deciding to ask the first question that popped into her head. "The women's restroom? How is that related to the case?"

Kazuma spoke up. "When Megu and I were questioning Otsuka-san, she told us that sometime before the robbery, she went to use the restroom, but it was locked. Isn't that right, Otsuka-san?"

"Yes. So I decided to go into the manager's office to search for the keys. But when I looked into the glass cabinet, they weren't there." Otsuka-san confirmed.

"What?" Kawazu-san frowned. "When did that happen? I recall seeing that they were still hanging there before I left the office."

Before the inspector could accuse Otsuka-san of lying, Megu said, "No, Otsuka-san is telling the truth. The door to the bathroom was locked when I used the keys to open them."

"Eh? When could the keys have gone missing, then?"

"Didn't you mention that you had a long phone call with an important client?" asked Ryuu. "You must have been distracted by the phone call. It would have been easy to sneak in, grab the keys, sneak back out, and return the keys while your back was turned."

"But wouldn't the security camera show someone entering the room?" asked Otsuka-san.

"Well, the security cameras are the type that move. If someone knew that they were there, they can check the blind spots in the footage, especially because the security room is easily accessible, and stay in those spots until the camera moves again."

"But the only ones who would know about the security cameras…are us," Kiski-san realized.

A nervous atmosphere sat heavily on the occupants of the room for a while, until it was broken by Fujikawa-san.

"Wait, going back to the original point-what does the women's restroom have to do with the case?" She asked.

Kinta grinned. "Do you remember the 10 million yen that went missing? And the mask and the gun the shooter used?"

"You don't mean…!" the inspector exclaimed, her eyes wide with realization.

"Yes, I found the mask and the gun in the trash can of the bathroom," Megu answered. "They were cleverly disguised by the paper towels on top of it. However, I realized that the trash can looked too full, and the paper towels looked clean, and after some careful searching, I found the items, and some of the money."

"…If it was found in the restroom, wouldn't Otsuka-san be the only one who could go in without looking suspicious?" Kiski-san asked. Otsuka-san bristled at the accusation, but was interrupted before she could start yelling.

"No, we haven't found any definite evidence that shows her motive as the killer," Ryuu answered.

"Earlier, you said you only found some of the money?" Kawazu-san asked Megu.

However, Kazuma was the one who answered. "Yes. I found the other half somewhere else."

"Where was it?" Inspector Fujikawa asked.

"It was hidden among the bags of trash inside the dumpster," the computer genius replied.

Otsuka-san frowned. "You mean the dumpster in the alley? That's where Kiski-san-"

"Yes, it was where he was taking a cigarette break," Kawazu-san finished.

Here, the guard paled, but managed to keep his composure. "Y-yes, it was where I was taking a cigarette break. I'm sure you've seen the evidence on the ground."

"You mean this?" Kyuu asked, holding up the bag.

Kiski-san perked up. "Yes!" he cried.

"But see, there's one problem with this piece of evidence," said Kinta, smirking.

"Which is?" asked the inspector.

"That this hasn't been used for that long. See where the flame has burned through only an eighth of the whole cigarette before it was snuffed out? This proves that he was faking his alibi, since a cigarette should have burned out during the time he stepped out to the alleyway and up until the robbery," Megu explained.

"Okay, so I could have avoided the security cameras, and faked my alibi, but you can't prove that I robbed the bank and shot the guy!" Kiski-san said defiantly.

"Actually, we can. We can prove that Kawazu-san was on the phone. The phone automatically records the call-it's the bank policy's to do so," Kazuma explained. "And why would Otsuka draw attention to the fact that the women's restroom was locked if she were the criminal? Only you could have the time to do it."

"W-well, even if I did, what would my motive be?"

"We went to the hospital that Hayami-san worked at," Ryuu said, watching carefully as the nervous, stuttering man became as still as a statue at those words. "Apparently, a few weeks ago, one of his patients died from complications following the procedure. Many complaints were filed by friends, family, and…her husband. Guess what the husband's name was."

Kiski-san's shoulders sagged in defeat, and he confessed. "Yes, you're correct. It was my wife who was dying of cancer. A malignant tumor had sprung up in a very difficult area to operate on. I was so desperate-I couldn't bear the thought of my loving wife's death. Despite her begging to just enjoy the last moments with her, I searched and searched for a good doctor, and I found one-Hayami-san. He had a high success record, and he told me that he could do it, that he could save her life. The operation was deemed a success."

"But a few days later, she died," Kyuu added quietly, with a sympathetic look on his face.

"Yes. I was so upset, but I couldn't have time to grieve. I had to get a second job so I could pay off the hospital bills, which had been building up for some time. Imagine my surprise, when I saw him talking to Otsuka-san at my new workplace. All of my anger came rushing back, and the next thing I knew, I was planning a murder."

"Why did you steal the money, then? To pay off the rest of the hospital bills?" Megu asked.

"It's strange-that would have been the logical reason, wouldn't it? But at the time, I thought that I could get people to think the robbery was committed on purpose, and that the murder was to help the robber clear an escape route. But clearly, I was wrong, since you kids found out the truth."

"…I think we've heard enough," said Inspector Fujikawa. "Arrest him, officers."

However, Kiski-san ducked away from them, and before anyone could move, he knelt on his knees and held his security guard gun to his head.

"What are you doing?" asked Kinta. Everyone else was silent as they stared at the guard with wide eyes.

"Now that my mission has been accomplished, I can leave this world in peace," Kiski-san answered. Before he could press the trigger, however, a blurry figure came flying at him, causing him to let go of the gun as both people rolled on the floor. The gun slid away, and both figures wrestled each other for a few minutes before the winner stood, holding the gun in his hand. Kiski-san glared as he made a grab for it, only to miss. "Give it to me! Do you know what it's like, to do something that you will regret for the rest of your life?"

Kyuu met his eyes with a calm and steady look. "Yes."

This startled his friends, who gave him worried looks that he ignored in the face of the current situation. _What was he talking about?_

"Then why don't you give the gun to me?!" Kiski-san lunged, but Kyuu was quick to get the gun out of the way, and tossed it behind him towards Ryuu.

"But is suicide really the right way to atone for that?" Kyuu asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Killing yourself dishonors your friends and family-the people who have helped you find your place in life. It's basically saying that their efforts are worthless. Do you really want to do that to your beloved wife? Would she really approve of you taking the coward's way out, instead of facing your punishment head-on?"

The guard's jaw ticked, but eventually, he slumped in defeat. The policemen rushed to cuff him, just in case he decided to pull another disappearing act from their holds on him.

"Kid?" He turned to look at Kyuu as he was led out to the police car by the inspector and her men, one of whom had picked up the tossed gun.

"Yes?"

"That action that you regret? I think that you are atoning for that already, as a student of DDS."

Kyuu nodded, but deep down, he was wondering if it was really true. Behind him, his classmates shared worried looks. They needed to have a talk with their leader.

* * *

Yeah, I was super tired when I wrote this, so I don't think this chapter was very good. However, I felt like this case was dragging on, and I wanted to get my third (and final) case in before I lose all inspiration in this story. I'm thinking about making it a Pluto case. What do you think?


	26. Secrets Shared

Wow! I got so much feedback…thanks for reviewing, Guest, Kaitou, D C JoKeR H S, and desamontello12!

Guest: Don't worry, I totally understand the struggles of schoolwork, it's why I'm updating less often now.

Kaitou: Yeah, you're probably right about that. How difficult do you want it to be? Harder or easier than the first case?

desamontello12: Sorry to say this, but yes, the next case will be the last in the story. Mainly because I don't have any plot ideas for more than three cases in this story, and because I don't think I'll have the time to add more. This story had gone on longer than I expected, too.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames). I will get my level 100 Empoleon to douse them if necessary.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

After finalizing the details of the case with the inspector, Class Q was on their way back to DDS. Seated in the DDS car along with his classmates, Kyuu rubbed at his eyes, feeling the exhaustion that he had been holding at bay wash over him like a tsunami. Ever since the panic attack, he had had a strong urge to curl up somewhere and take a nap. It didn't help that he hadn't had much sleep ever since his disappearance weeks ago…

Upon seeing the action, Ryuu, Megu, Kinta, and Kazuma shared worried looks. Megu decided to speak up, since her chances of being shut down were slimmer than everyone else's. "Ne, Kyuu. When was the last time you slept? You look tired."

"Hmm? Oh, I slept last night," Kyuu answered truthfully. However, Ryuu wasn't fooled.

"And how many hours did you sleep last night?"

Kyuu's gaze shifted, unable to look his classmates in the eyes as he tried to think of a way to avoid the question.

That was answer enough for everyone. Kazuma sighed. "Look, I'll be the first to admit that I sleep very few hours-being a creator of video games will do that to you. But you don't have that excuse. So what's keeping you up at night?"

After seeing that Kyuu wasn't going to answer, Kinta spoke up. "Does this have something to do with what happened at the hospital earlier?"

Kyuu's head snapped up, and he glared at Kinta. If he had been more awake, it would have been very effective in silencing the martial arts practitioner, but right now, he just looked like a sleepy panda. Or a raccoon. Kinta inwardly snickered at the thought.

"What happened at the hospital?!" Megu cried, her concern showing on her face and her tone.

The others listened to Ryuu's reply as Kyuu slumped down into his seat, burying his head in his arms. Would he never get over that embarrassment? Having a panic attack in a dimly lit hall? How pathetic could he get?

When the blue-haired boy finished his story, there was silence for a long moment. Then, instead of the laughter he had expected, Kyuu felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. Startled, he looked up and saw Megu's face looking at him. However, it wasn't mocking, or pitying. It was simply sympathetic, and he unconsciously began to relaxed as he took in her expression.

Kinta spoke up, deciding that it was safe-Kyuu wasn't likely to come after him now that he seemed to have calmed down. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but I don't think you'll leave me alone until I do…" Kyuu sighed. "I haven't really slept for longer than two hours a night since my return."

Everyone gawked. How had he not dropped from exhaustion yet? Ryuu just nodded, unsurprised at the admission. (They did share a room, after all.)

Megu spoke so softly that they barely heard her. "Is it the nightmares?"

Kyuu was prepared to deny it, but he couldn't find the energy to do so. "Yes. Sometimes, I dream that I'm still in that lab. I wake up, and Odin is there, with his closet of tools, and giving me this super creepy smile. Then, when I wake up in the dark, I think I'm back in that room. The one you found me in."

Everyone looked at him sadly as he shuddered at the memory, but Megu's reaction surprised him. One minute, he was looking at her face, and the next, his vision was filled with pink.

"M-Megu? What are you doing?" Kyuu sputtered, his cheeks turning a little red. Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, and he felt her chin resting on his shoulder as the rest of her body pressed against his. "Isn't it obvious? I'm hugging you until you feel better." There was no other reason, she thought. No ulterior motive at all.

Ryuu hid a knowing smirk as Kinta and Kazuma snickered openly.

* * *

When they returned to the school, Megu was the first out of the car, calling out a quick goodbye to everyone over her shoulder. She was inwardly screaming at herself as she zoomed out of the car and into the classroom to retrieve her bag and go home. She couldn't believe that she had the courage to do that!

Kyuu, the poor boy, just stood there, bewildered by what had just happened. By now, Kinta was full on laughing, while Kazuma had calmed down enough to start rolling his eyes at Kinta's overreaction.

Ryuu took pity on their class leader and turned to him. "How about we start heading home?"

Kyuu nodded, and said his goodbyes to Kinta and Kazuma. Then, he caught up to Ryuu as they started their journey back.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, until Ryuu broke the silence. "So…you have nightmares of your time at Pluto?"

Kyuu said, "Yes." Then with some hesitation, he added, "…I'm assuming you did too?"

His classmate froze mid-step, his expression one of panic and terror. It was such a rare look for him that Kyuu immediately felt guilty for the tactless comment. He opened his mouth to apologize when the blue-haired boy whispered, "You know?"

"Yes," Kyuu answered. His mind was screaming at him to shut up, but his mouth couldn't obey. "But I think I knew before I…went missing."

"I…see," Ryuu said finally. "I'll...just get my things and be on my way, then."

"Ehh?" Kyuu asked, utterly bewildered for the second time that day. "What are you talking about?"

It was Ryuu's turn to look surprised. "Isn't that what you want me to do? After all, I'm dangerous. I'm a member of Pluto."

Kyuu seemed to have recovered his thoughts. "NO!" He shouted, then winced as Ryuu flinched away from the noise. "No, why would you think that?"

Before Ryuu could say anything, Kyuu continued on. "Look, I told you that I had an inkling about your identity before I went missing. It was because I noticed the timing of the last few cases we worked on last year. You moved into my house, saying that you were running away. A few days after that, we get a call saying Dan-sensei had been kidnapped by Pluto. Are you telling me that that's a coincidence? And besides, if you think you don't deserve to live in my house, technically I'm a former member of Pluto too. Are you saying that I should leave my mom because I'm dangerous now?"

Ryuu looked at him speechlessly. Kyuu had basically torn his arguments into pieces. And he wasn't even done yet.

"So don't you say that you shouldn't live with us. Kaa-san loves having you over, and I enjoy your company. So you're staying. End of discussion."

Kyuu took some time to calm down from his impassioned speech, and when his vision cleared, he was relieved to see Ryuu nodding. "Okay, against my better judgment, I'll stay. Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Unless something important comes up, I don't see a reason to," Kyuu answered honestly.

Ryuu nodded, and the boys continued their journey in silence, each reflecting on the events of the day.

The silence was then broken by Kyuu. "So…what just happened with me and Megu today?"

It was such a huge change in topic that Ryuu couldn't help it-he burst into laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of it. At first, Kyuu was taken aback-he hadn't seen Ryuu laugh so loudly since the case with the one village separated into two by a wall. But then, a small smile crept on his lips. "What? I'm serious. What happened back there?"

"I'm not even going to touch that one," Ryuu responded, holding back another set of snickers threatening to escape.

The rest of their journey continued, with him smirking as he avoided answering Kyuu, despite the latter's protests and whines.

* * *

Stay tuned: The next case will probably start in the next chapter! Come back next weekend and check it out!


	27. Just When Life Became Normal Again

Thanks for the reviews, D C JoKeR H S and desamontello12!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Strangely enough, for Kyuu, the next couple of weeks following the last case were surprisingly peaceful. At first, the nightmares came and went as usual. However, before they would get too bad, he would be woken by Ryuu. The mystery otaku had felt bad, and apologized every time it occurred. However, the blue-haired boy waved it off, assuring him that he wasn't bothering him-the blue-haired boy normally slept very little anyway. Then, Ryuu would return to his bed, falling asleep almost instantly, while Kyuu would try and calm his thoughts, which were usually hovering among Odin, Pluto, and his classmates (especially Megu, whose actions he was still puzzling over).

Eventually, three months after his return, Kyuu was starting to be able to sleep normally for at least six hours a night. He had finished sparring with Ryuu, and they had found themselves evenly matched-Hongou-sensei had to declare a tie after half an hour had gone by, and neither boy looked winded. He had finally caught up on all of the homework he had missed (which almost resulted in a severe case of tunnel vision and hand cramps), and he was beginning to smile more with his friends, causing everyone around him to relax. Megu even stopped blushing and darting away at the sight of him…

Of course, just when things were starting to become normal (at least for a high school detective, anyway) for him, that was when life threw him and his classmates a curveball. Or several.

* * *

It started when Ryuu and Kyuu were called into Dan-sensei's office. Shrugging at the puzzled looks that Megu and Kazuma sent their way, and ignoring Kinta's jeer (seriously, how could he be the oldest out of them?), they made their way into the main building and into the office. Inwardly, Kyuu was nervous-did something happen to his mother? Is that why both of them had been called in? However, his fears were unfounded when he saw that Dan-sensei was facing them, with a calm expression. After getting past the traditional greetings, Dan-sensei motioned for them to sit down.

The headmaster of DDS directed his attention to Kyuu first. "Kyuu-kun, Hongou-sensei tells me that you and Ryuu-kun were evenly matched in the battle. Is this statement true?"

"Yes," Kyuu replied after some hesitation. Was this why they had been called down?

"And you did so using your…training…with Pluto? Your demonstrations showed that your physical abilities have improved tremendously since before you were kidnapped."

Kyuu's mind had no problem following the train of thought. There was only one reason Ryuu had been called in with him. His blood ran cold, and he and Ryuu exchanged looks of panic. They held a silent conversation with their eyes, and they both turned to Dan-sensei. However, before they could make up an excuse, Dan-sensei held his hand up.

"Before you say anything, I thought that you should know that I have always known about your relationship with Pluto, Ryuu-kun."

"WHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!"

Both boys exclaimed. Dan-sensei was glad that his door had been closed during that loud question. And that his office was soundproof.

Ryuu recovered first, since he had been mentally preparing himself for this day ever since he had joined the academy. "How did you find out?"

"I'm not the headmaster of the top detective school in the country for nothing, you know," replied Dan-sensei, calm as ever.

"What's going to happen to Ryuu?" demanded Kyuu, who had regained his bearings by now. "Are you going to arrest him? Or send him away?"

"No, Kyuu-kun. Holding someone responsible for his grandparents' actions is illogical. And as far as I know, Ryuu-kun hasn't done anything to warrant jail time," Dan-sensei said, shooting Kyuu a stern look. Kyuu looked down at himself, surprised at his half-sitting, half-standing position. He had unconsciously leapt out of his chair in indignation. Sheepishly, he sat down.

"Are you going to send me away?" Ryuu asked in resignation.

"No," Ryuu's head snapped up in surprise as Dan-sensei continued speaking. "Even if the head of Pluto is my enemy, I have no reason to kick you out of my school. Like I said before, you didn't do anything wrong, even if you had been sent to infiltrate it. You had to follow orders, or else you would have been disowned and left out on the streets. I hold no grudge against you because of those reasons."

Ryuu was looking at Dan-sensei in awe. How could the enemy of his grandfather be so forgiving? It was more than he deserved. Meanwhile, Kyuu was smirking at him. Despite Kyuu's reaction just now, he had been the one to say that Dan-sensei wouldn't have kicked him out or arrested him, just because he was the adopted grandson of the head of Pluto. "Thank you for your kindness, Dan-sensei," he murmured as he bowed and kept his head down.

He then felt Kyuu's comforting hand on his back, and then he heard the smile in his classmate's voice as he spoke next. "Yes, thank you, Dan-sensei. So, was that all you wanted to discuss with us?"

"I'm asking you to keep this a secret, unless there are special circumstances that make it necessary to share it."

Both boys nodded, and Dan-sensei continued on. "And the other reason I called you here was because I wanted you to keep an eye on Kintaro-kun."

"Kinta?" both Class Q detectives questioned. Ryuu asked, "Why Kinta?"

"I have a new case that must be solved. You are the only class available to assist the police in solving it. However, Kinta may be reluctant once he sees the case file." After handing the two detectives the case files for Class Q, the headmaster of DDS concluded, "You are dismissed."

* * *

When the two reached the classroom, their classmates looked up in relief.

"Kyuu, Ryuu! What took you so long?" Megu questioned, her eyes worried.

"Did you get in trouble for something?" Kazuma asked, with Kinta waggling his eyebrows in the background.

After sharing a look, Kyuu said, "No, Dan-sensei wanted us to pick up some new files for our newest case. Here you go."

"Hmm, so Enoki Yoshi, the 27-year-old soon-to-be president of a major company specializing in creating technology, was found dead two days ago in a hotel lobby," Megu said, finishing the reading first.

"So according to the secretary, Enoki-san walked in and sat in the lobby, as if he were waiting for someone. Some time passed as she answered some phone calls, and when she looked up again, he appeared to be asleep," Ryuu continued.

"However, near closing time, when no one appeared, and she tried to wake him up, she discovered that he wasn't breathing, and that he had no pulse. She then called the police," Kyuu concluded.

"Cause and time of death to be determined," Kazuma mused. "How have they not found those by now? What do you think, Kinta?"

At the lack of response, Kazuma looked up. His eyes widened at his classmate's expression. It was as if the older boy's normal cheerful demeanor had been replaced by a dark jumble of emotions, some of them negative.

"Kinta?" asked Kazuma, putting the file down and stepping closer to him. By now, everyone else had noticed the strange reaction, and were now looking at him as well. "What's wrong?"

After a long moment, Kinta loosened his jaw from its clenched position, and said, "Take a look at the name of the officer we'll be working with."

"Toyama Osamu?" Kyuu wondered. "Wait, you don't mean…!"

"Yes. It's my father."


	28. Kinta is Nervous

Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12, D C JoKeR H S, and Kaitou!

desamontello12: That's a good point!

Kaitou: So I'll just make the case sort of like the first one in this story-with some red herrings. Is that okay with you?

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Thirty minutes into the hour-long ride to the crime scene, everyone had descended into an unsettling silence. Kyuu was driving, since Kinta, who sat in the passenger seat, was obviously still upset at seeing his father again. Ryuu sat behind Kinta, and Kazuma and Megu sat to his left.

However, Kazuma decided to bite the bullet, ignore the faces his classmates were making at him, and ask. He figured that if Kinta vented his anger out now, it would be better than bottling it all up and exploding in anger later.

"Why don't you want to see your father? Does it have something to do with you working all of those part time jobs?"

Everyone froze at the question. Kyuu, Ryuu, and Megu braced themselves for a blow-up, but to their surprise, Kinta just deflated, slumping further down as far as his seat in the front would allow. (Which was a strange sight-they were used to seeing him grinning or goofing off. No one so happy should look this way.)

"…Yes. When we first met, do you remember when I said that I moved out because I felt that I couldn't rely on my family's money and influence anymore?"

At his classmates' nods, he continued, "Well, that was a lie."

"So why did you move out?" Megu asked tentatively.

"Because my father and I got into an argument. You know how the Toyamas have a tradition of practicing the ten martial arts? Well, while it's true that my father was proud of my martial arts abilities, he also believed that I should do better in my academic grades.

The thing is, I tried and tried, but I could never get my grades up. I went to tutors, and asked teachers for help, but they only raised my grades by a small percentages. My father refused to believe that his son couldn't be perfect, so I left home, and we haven't spoken to each other ever since."

Silence fell, as everyone gave him sympathetic looks. They were also impressed that Kinta had managed to survive this long on his several part time jobs and classes at DDS. Finally, Ryuu spoke up. "And this occurred before you joined DDS?"

"Yes. Why?" Kinta looked puzzled, as did Kazuma and Megu.

"Because you had to pass the test in order to get into DDS," Ryuu said, as if that explained everything.

Kinta looked at Kyuu. What was Ryuu trying to get at?

Kyuu smirked as he followed Ryuu's train of thought. "Your father doesn't know that you were admitted into the best class in Japan's top detective academy. In other words, he's in for a surprise!"

* * *

Despite feeling better after listening to Ryuu and Kyuu, Kinta felt his nerves build up again as Class Q walked closer and closer towards the crime scene. He tightened his fists, a motion that his classmates had noticed. Subtly, Kazuma shifted closer to him, and Kyuu lengthened his stride so that he was in front of the rest of the group by a small gap. Although Kinta himself didn't notice the actions, his body registered it, and his shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit.

Stepping up to the crime scene tape, Kyuu tapped on the police officer's shoulder. Kinta tensed, then released a small, relieved sigh when the officer turned around. Good. He didn't have to deal with his father just yet.

"Hi, we're the students from Class Q," said Kyuu.

"Oh, you're here?" asked the officer, with a tone of surprise, as if he couldn't believe that they were so young. As they were allowed entrance into the hotel lobby, the team resisted the urge to sigh-they had heard it too many times before. "I am officer Nakada. Osamu-keiji will be here in an hour-he was at another crime scene before this one. However, I am assuming that you have read the case files we sent? Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, just one, for now. Why haven't the cause and time of death been determined?" asked Kazuma.

"Well, our coroners couldn't find any visible marks on the body, and if it were poison, we would need to know what to test for," the officer explained. Class Q nodded in understanding.

"As it turned out, the backgrounds and alibis for all of the people who were staying in or working for the hotel checked out. This leaves us with the suspects from work-the vice president, Kawamata Mayako, Toyoda Kazuki, the accountant, and Akiyama Kano, the secretary who discovered the body-and they have been asked to stay in that room over there (here, officer Nakada pointed to a meeting room behind the front desk) until the murder is solved. Another officer has been watching over them, so they haven't had the chance to trade stories."

"Thank you very much for your cooperation," Ryuu bowed. Dismissed, the officer resumed his position of waiting by the entrance of the crime scene.

"So, who wants to speak to who?" Kyuu turned to his classmates.

"I'll talk to Toyoda-san," Ryuu offered.

Megu perked up. "I'll go with you!"

Ryuu gave her a surprised look, but accepted.

"I'll talk to Akiyama-san," Kinta said, his anxiety forgotten for a few moments. "She's a secretary-I bet she's beautiful!" At his grin, Kazuma rolled his eyes.

"I'll join you," said Kyuu. Megu, Ryuu, and Kazuma looked at him strangely. Sure, before the kidnapping, they wouldn't think twice about Kyuu going to talk to a beautiful woman, but he had changed since then. Why would he want to talk to her?

They followed Kyuu's worried gaze, directed at Kinta. _So that's what it's about._

To Kyuu's relief, Kinta hadn't seen through him, and merely shrugged in acceptance.

Kazuma then said, "I guess that leaves me with Kawamata-san." He said it like he accepted it-he didn't really care who he questioned.

Kinta frowned. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Of course. I do know how to defend myself if anything happens, you know. Now go!" he said, following his classmates into the meeting room to retrieve their suspects and question them.


	29. The VP, Accountant, and Secretary

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S and desamontello12! And to all my readers for reaching over 1000 views!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Staying in the meeting room, Kazuma looked up at Kawamata Mayako, a 34-year-old dark-haired woman with glasses and perfectly manicured nails, who wore a cold expression on her face.

"Yes, boy? What can I do for you?" the vice president asked, sparing him an uninterested glance from her phone, which she promptly turned back to.

"I was wondering if you could answer some questions about the death of Enoki Yoshi," Kazuma responded, after pushing down the aggravation that came with being ignored.

"And why would I tell such a young man? And what is wrong with the police, bringing someone as young as you on a possible crime scene?"

Kazuma internally sighed as he reached into his pocket and showing her his DDS notebook. He watched with grim satisfaction as he eyes widened. Now he had her full attention.

Kawamata-san cleared her throat, having the decency to look at least a little embarrassed. "What would you like to know?"

"What did you think of him? What was he like?"

Kawamata-san's lips curled with disgust. "That man was a disgrace to the company," she spat.

Kazuma's eyebrows raised. _That was certainly a strong reaction…_ "May I ask why you thought so?"

"Before he came into his position as president, things were going well-the company was functioning at its full capacity and efficiency. We made a lot of profits that year. But all of that changed-Enoki-san was more relaxed…and soft. He gave the scientists and technology designers more vacation time, and higher salaries. With less production and less revenue, we have made less profit than ever, and our company is going downhill. How the company managed to continue running after **he** died, I'll never know…" Kawamata-san muttered.

Before she could continue ranting, Kazuma asked, "He?"

The vice president looked up at him incredulously as she adjusted her glasses. "You mean you didn't know? The president before Enoki-san was his father, Enoki Akio."

"And when did he die?"

"It would have been…a year ago, I believe."

So recently? Kazuma mentally filed that information away, promising himself to look into it later.

"And what did you do today?" Kazuma asked.

"Since my work day began, I have been in meeting after meeting-in this very room, before we got into this interrogation session."

Hmm. That sounded like a solid alibi. He would have to look into it, though.

"Speaking of which, are we done now? I have some other meetings to attend to."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow at how well she seemed to be taking her co-worker's death, but he nodded-he was pretty much out of questions for now.

As soon as she was gone, he started typing with full speed into his computer. He had some data to enter and things to research.

* * *

In their rather spacious interviewee's office cubicle, Megu and Ryuu sat across from Toyoda Kazuki, a 45-year-old balding man with a dark tan. Currently, the man was writing on a piece of paper, using a pen he had taken from a cup on his desk that seemed to be filled with them, ranging in size and color. Upon entering, Ryuu had taken a glance at the paper, and concluded that it was a list of expenses from the human resources department.

All in all, the room seemed perfectly fine as it is, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, Ryuu cleared his throat, which had the ulterior motive-getting the accountant's attention. "Kazuki-san, we would appreciate it if you would answer our questions."

Toyoda-san jumped, as if he had forgotten that they were there. "Oh, sorry. It's just that I have a deadline coming up soon, so I'm trying to get as much done as I can."

Megu said, "This will only take a few minutes of your time. What did you think of the former president?"

"I think he did an adequate job at running the company," said the accountant. "I know that's not the most complimentary thing to say, but it's the truth. Company revenue has been decreasing, but then again, he did manage to create better relationships with the designers and scientists than the last president, according to the rumors. I was hired a few months after Enoki-san was-you will have to ask the people who worked here longer for clarification on that. As for myself, I haven't really had a chance to talk to Enoki-san all that much, so I can't say anything more than what I already have."

Megu made a mental note to ask Kazuma about it, then turned her attention to Ryuu, who was about to ask their next question.

"What were you doing today?"

"As you can see, I have a stack of papers to review and ensure that they are accurate before entering them into our financial statements. In fact-"

Ryuu froze suddenly as Toyoda-san's voice became silent. He became aware of eyes on the back of his neck, where his Pluto tattoo was.

Chills ran down his spine as his neck snapped to the doorway, where officer Nakada was standing.

Megu jumped in her seat at the sudden move, while Toyoda-san stopped talking, having caught side of the police officer as well. She gave Ryuu a strange look, but he didn't see it, since he was too deep in thought. _Was he…?_

The officer looked at the two Class Q members apologetically. "Sorry for interrupting, but the police wanted to question Toyoda-san about Enoki-san's death."

Pretending not to hear Toyoda-san's sigh of despair at never getting his work done, Ryuu nodded. "That's fine. We were done with our interrogation for now. We'll be back if we have any more questions," he said that last part to the accountant. The accountant nodded, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he gave up on finishing the work today and followed the police officer.

Megu looked to Ryuu. "Did something happen? You tensed up all of a sudden."

Ryuu shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I just remembered that I have to talk to Kyuu about something."

Megu studied him. It seemed like he was telling the truth, but why did she get the feeling that he was hiding something from her?

However, if there was anything she knew about Ryuu, it was that even if he was keeping secrets, he wouldn't do anything to harm her or any of their classmates. And that was enough to squash down to curiosity that arose from his response.

 _For now._

* * *

In the lobby area across from the reception desk, Kinta and Kyuu sat across from Akiyama Kano, a 30-year-old brunette who, to Kinta's slight disappointment, was sort of pretty, but not in an overly attractive sense. Her tall umbrella was balanced against the chair she was sitting in

Kinta asked, "So Akiyama-san, how long have you been working for this company?"

"For about six years now, I would say," replied the secretary. Despite the red rims around her eyes, she was still polite.

"And you were the one to discover the body yesterday?" Kyuu asked gently.

She nodded. "I was working at the reception desk, and I saw him come in and sit down at one of those chairs (here, she indicated the set sitting about ten feet away from current position). I wasn't sure how long he had been there, but when I was answering the phone, I saw that he was asleep. At the end of the work day, I went to wake him up. Then I saw that he was unresponsive and not breathing, so I called 911."

Kyuu continued with the interrogation. "Did you know Enoki-san that well?"

"No, but from the few times that I met him, he was kind enough to chat with me a few times. He was nicer than his father, that's for sure."

"His father?" Kinta asked, as he and Kyuu exchanged a perplexed glance. _How did the secretary know who the president's father was?_

"Yes. His father, Enoki Akio, ran the company before he died," Akiyama-san explained. "He was a rather harsh boss-he worked the designers and scientists quite hard, and he was rude to everyone else, as if they weren't as deserving of respect."

Kyuu frowned _. Did 'everyone else' include Akiyama-san?_ He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the door open. No one should be inside the interrogation room. He turned, ready to ask the intruder to leave, but he stopped heard a gasp from Kinta, who had turned to look at the doorway at the same time as Kyuu and Akiyama-san.

"Tou-san?"


	30. Kyuu Feels the Awkwardness

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Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Kinta stared mutely at the figure at the doorway, stunned that he was looking at his father after having lost contact with the man for the last two years. Now that he was there, in person, he had no idea what to say.

Toyama Osamu turned at the whispered address, the action being more of a reflex than anything. His eyes widened when they landed on Kinta-even with the longer hair, he could still recognize his son. However, this was not the time for dredging up family issues, so Kyuu took it upon himself to intervene.

"Toyama Osamu? I am Kyuu, a student of DDS. And this is Kinta, a classmate of mine."

Kinta turned to his friend with a raised eyebrow- _why was he telling his father who he was?-_ when he caught Kyuu's eyes flickering to their interviewee, the secretary Akiyama-san, and back to him.

Oh. If she was the criminal, it would be bad if she leaned about their familial relationship. She might take one of them hostage so that the other would let her go. While she seemed relatively harmless, there had been some instances in the past where the criminal took advantage of their appearances to get away with their crimes.

Kyuu glanced at Toyama Osamu, who had also appeared to have figured it out. Hmm…it seemed that Kinta must have inherited the sharp instinct trait from him.

Toyama-san nodded at both of them. "It's nice to meet you both. Have you finished interviewing the suspect?"

Kyuu looked to Kinta, who nodded. He turned back, and replied, "Yes, for now." To Akiyama-san he said, "If we have any other questions later, we'll be back."

After the secretary nodded in acceptance, Kyuu, with Kinta trailing after him, joined Toyama-san in the hallway. As they silently made their way to their classmates, with the older Toyama leading the way, Kyuu shifted at the atmosphere between the father and son. As of now, there was more awkwardness than tension, but Kyuu wasn't really sure which was more preferable. He clapped a hand on Kinta's shoulder, squeezing his hand to give him some comfort.

Judging from the stiffness of the shoulder, it didn't work…He resisted the urge to the sigh. This case was complicated enough as is.

Kyuu almost smiled at the looks on his classmates' faces when Kinta's father introduced himself. Kinta himself sat by Kazuma, and Kyuu sat on his other side. He couldn't help but be thankful that they did, since it forced his father to sit opposite him (next to Megu and Ryuu), leaving him without the opportunity to talk to him.

"So," Kyuu cleared his throat. He had had enough of the awkward silence on his way to the room-he didn't want to go through it again in this room. "We need to have a look at the evidence. Has the cause of death been determined yet?"

"No," said Toyama-san. He looked uncomfortable as he said his next words. "We may need one or two of you to come in and help the coroners. Apparently, their best one retired a couple of days before the case opened, so they were shorthanded." He disliked having teenagers look at dead bodies at such a young age, but the case had to be closed. The death of the president had been covered by the media, and the chairman of the company was putting pressure on him and demanding answers.

Kyuu looked at his classmates, gauging their reactions. Megu disliked having to examine dead bodies, and Kazuma was better with computers than with corpses. Kinta looked like he would do anything to get away from having to talk to his father, but did that include going to the morgue? Probably not-Kinta would never admit it, but he was squeamish around dead bodies. Dead rats and spiders he could handle-he had been in part-time jobs that forced him to interact with them-but not human bodies. Based on these factors, Kyuu made his decision after exchanging a glance with Ryuu.

"Ryuu and I will go with you to take a look at the body. What about you, Kazuma, Kinta, and Megu?"

The three looked surprised at the fact that Kyuu and Ryuu were volunteering to go examine a corpse, but Kinta was also relieved. He answered, "I'll look at Akiyama-san's desk and the lobby for any evidence pertaining to our investigation."

Megu spoke up, saying, "Are you sure you want to go see the corpse, Kyuu? Won't that remind you of-"

Kyuu interrupted her before she could finish the question. "Of course I'll be fine. Thanks for your concern, but it's been two months since…that."

Megu looked hurt at the snappish retort, and Kyuu wished he could take the words back. However, he couldn't find it in himself to apologize just yet. Just because he had one panic attack didn't mean he was that weak!

Kazuma then said awkwardly, "I'll look at the meeting room and Kawamata's office. Maybe I'll find something."

Megu looked away from Kyuu, and said in a cold tone, "I guess I'll search Toyoda-san's office for clues."

Kyuu internally flinched at the tone, but said, "Okay, I guess we're done here, then. Class Q, move out!"

* * *

Somewhere in the shadows…

"So, the police chief is taking those two blasted DDS students with him, away from the crime scene?"

"Yes, it would seem so, my lord."

"Good. All is going according to plan. Morihiko Dan…I hope you witness this, the destruction of your precious Class Q."

Dark chuckles filled the air in anticipation of what was to come.


	31. Conversations with Kinta's Father

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To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

On the way to the morgue

As Kyuu was seated in the passenger seat of the car (which was currently being driven by Kinta's father), he wondered which deity he had angered, since he was, once again, doomed to be stuck in an awkward silence for the second time that day. While Ryuu's silence was normal, this time, the blue-haired boy seemed half-worried, and half something else. Since he was looking out of the window, however, Kyuu couldn't tell what the other emotion was.

As for Kinta's father, Kyuu couldn't tell if silence was normal for him. It was hard to imagine any relative of Kinta's being naturally quiet, but then again, given how father and son seemed to get along, maybe they had opposing personalities? He was staring straight ahead, his expression too difficult to decipher.

Both Kyuu and Ryuu were broken out of their respective stupors by Toyama Osamu, who seemed to have taken it upon himself to clear the air between them.

"So, you two are friends of my son? And you are all DDS students?" He asked in awkward attempt to make conversation. On behalf of his absent friend, Kyuu felt some indignation rise up within him at the undeserved indirect insult (Kinta may be a goof, but he wasn't totally inept!), but he quashed it down.

"Yes," Ryuu replied after giving Kyuu a strange look when he took too long to answer.

"My son…in DDS?"

This time, Kyuu didn't bother to calm himself. "Yes, Toyama-san, your son is in DDS. And in the top class, I might add. Is that so hard to believe?" he snapped.

Toyama-san had the decency to look sheepish, which helped Kyuu calm down. He tried to see the situation from Toyama-san's point of view, and realized that he would be curious too, if his son had run away (even if he had been provoked into doing so), only to end up in a top detective academy.

"Sorry," Kyuu offered as an apology, his sincerity showing in the word. However, he didn't say anything more.

"It's fine. It seems that I don't give Kinta enough credit… How is he doing?"

Ryuu and Kyuu locked eyes, a little stunned at the genuine concern in his voice.

Ryuu cleared his throat, and said, "He's doing well. Usually, he is our backup in case the criminals get violent, but he has shown that he can think on his feet."

Kinta's father chuckled with a hint of fondness, surprising his son's classmates even more. "Yeah, that sounds like my son…" He seemed to reflect on the past, before saying, "I know you think that I'm a poor father, and I would agree with you. You can imagine how unhappy my wife has been with me, for the last few years. And after reflecting on what happened over these last few years, I can't blame her. I was so focused on wanting a perfect son, that I tried to make him into something he's not. I just wish I had realized this earlier…and I want to apologize to him, if he would ever be willing enough to hear me out."

Both DDS students sat in stunned silence, before Kyuu spoke up. "I think Kinta will, if you give it enough time. I mean, I don't have experience with this kind of situation, but Kinta forgives pretty easily. That's just the kind of guy he is."

Ryuu shot him a look at the reference to his father, but Toyama-san gave him a grateful smile, before askng, "So what sorts of situations has my son gotten into these past few years?"

It was the right distraction, and Kyuu smiled before jumping in to telling all of the stories about their cases over the years. Ryuu occasionally jumped in to fill for the time Kyuu had been missing. Pretty soon, all of them were laughing.

At one point, they were telling Toyama-san about the time Kyuu and Kinta had snuck into the women's baths, and Megu punishing them both. However, the high-ranking police officer that he was, Kinta's father detected the undercurrents of affection in Kyuu's voice whenever he spoke about the pink-haired girl.

"You really care a lot about her, huh?"

"W-what?" Kyuu denied, although his blush gave the lie away. He swatted his hand at Ryuu, who was uncharacteristically snickering in the back seat. "What do you mean?"

By now, Ryuu had recovered, and replied, "It's so obvious, even Kazuma and Kinta know it."

"No it isn't! And besides, even if I did have feelings for her, what would I do? I've been gone from her life for six months. Any feelings she may have harbored for me must be gone by now!"

Ryuu's eyes hardened, and the emotion that Kyuu couldn't see earlier now showed clearly on his face.

It was anger. And Ryuu rarely got angry…This was going to be bad.

Kyuu barely had time to brace himself before Ryuu began speaking in a deceptively "calm" voice. "Kyuu. Believe me when I say this: you're an idiot."

"What? But-"

"No buts. And I know for a fact that Megu returns your feelings."

"W-what? How do you know that?!"

"She told me so herself."

"What? Why would she do that?"

"It doesn't matter! The point is, you shouldn't keep her in the dark about your feelings! And second, as her honorary brother, I'm here to warn you that if you hurt her again, verbally or otherwise, I will hunt you down and beat you beyond the point of recognition! And Kinta and Kazuma will help me. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes," Kyuu said in a timid voice. Wow. He knew Ryuu could be intimidating when he was calm, but he was downright petrifying when he was angry.

Toyama-san, who had been silent up to now, joined in with a smirk on his lips. For a second there, Kyuu could see the family resemblance, but unlike what Kinta would have done, the older man simply added, "You should get her an apology gift. It'll help her soften up to you."

"Duly noted."

* * *

At the parking lot

As soon as they got out of the car, Toyama-san locked the car and strode toward the coroner's office. Kyuu made to follow, but was tugged back by a hand around his wrist. Turning, he saw that Ryuu was the one that had held him back, and that for some reason, he had an uneasy expression on his face.

"Ryuu? What's up?"

"It could be nothing, but I feel that I should warn you anyway. When Megu and I were interviewing Toyoda-san, for a moment, I felt _their_ eyes on me."

Kyuu stiffened in response to the last word. There was only one group that would make Ryuu this uneasy. "Who do you think was watching you? Toyoda-san?"

"Either him or the officer who met us when we first arrived-Nakada-san. Or it could have been someone passing by the office," Ryuu responded. "I didn't get a chance to see."

"Okay. It could be nothing, but just in case it is really them, we'll just have to watch our backs more carefully."

Both boys shared a dark look before going to follow Toyama-san into the building. They were thinking the same thing.

Everyone could be in danger right now, and they were the only ones who knew it.

* * *

In the morgue

Kyuu and Ryuu stood next to Toyama-san as they listened to a young, brown-haired man who turned out to be the coroner, named Tsuruki Chino. He was very nervous, that much was certain from the ensuing dialogue.

"W-wow! You're students of DDS?"

"Please stay on track, Tsuruki-kun. We have a murder investigation to solve."

"Oh, r-right. S-so, umm, I'm just a temporary replacement for the day, since the last coroner retired. I'm just an intern at the college nearby, and I've been doing my best, but I can't find cause of death…but I'll try to answer any of your questions to the best of my ability."

Everyone was rather unimpressed, but Kyuu felt some pity for the young man, who had clearly been thrust into an unexpected role. He piped up, saying, "Would you like us to examine the body? Maybe a fresh pair of eyes will help…"

The substitute coroner readily agreed, and Kyuu and Ryuu both snapped on a pair of gloves. Tsuruki-san stood by as both he and Toyama-san stared at them with wide eyes. Just how experienced with dead bodies were these DDS students?

They got their answer when, minutes later, Ryuu stood up from his crouched position after sharing a look with Kyuu. He then turned to the coroner. "The reason why you weren't able to determine cause of death was because there are no visible wounds on the body. However, I'm sure you've already realized this…"

"Ah, hai! I even did a dissection, but I couldn't find any signs of poisoning…"

Kyuu spoke up. "Yeah, but there are some types of poisons that are more difficult to detect. Strychnine, for example. If the victim ingested enough of it, they would have died in minutes, and the only sign we would have for that is if the stomach showed signs of inflammation."

"We'll need to run drug tests for poisons to determine the specific type. Try strychnine first-it's the most likely candidate. I trust that you will be able to do that, Tsuruki-san?"

"Yes, of course," Tsuruki-san nodded, his nervousness now gone as he watched the two detectives work perfect synchronization. "I work better with drugs than with dead bodies, anyway."

Kyuu's eyes narrowed for a second, but he pasted a smile on his face as he turned to Toyama Osamu. "Since it is 4:30 p.m. now, time of death was most likely around this time, give or take 30 minutes, 3 days ago. Rigor mortis has already passed."

Toyama-san nodded, his amazement now hidden behind a mask of professionalism once again. "This should help Kinta and the rest of your classmates narrow down what they are searching for."

"Yeah. I sure hope so," Kyuu replied as he watched Ryuu dial a number on his phone.

* * *

Unknown place, unknown time

"So, that boy has the same last name as that officer? Well, isn't that interesting…" the voice mused. "I hope you know what's in store for you, Class Q."


	32. Finding Some Evidence

Thanks for the reviews, desamontello12 and D C JoKeR HS!

desamontello12: And of course, it would be about his feelings, not about his detective work

DC JoKeR H S: We'll see about that! ;)

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Back at the crime scene

As Megu made her way to her assigned crime scene, she fumed, imaginary clouds of steam and sparks shooting off her head. How could Kyuu be so cold? She was just trying to be nice to him, but look where that got her! That baka!

Her anger was so immediate and obvious that Kazuma and Kinta had taken one look at her and promptly zoomed off to their respective crime scenes. They had seen the worst side of her temper in the past (especially Kinta, who had snuck into the women's bath with Kyuu during that case), and they would like to live a little longer, thank you very much.

But back to Megu. By now, she had reached Toyoda-san's cubicle and after stomping to her heart's content, she had calmed down and actually started to feel a little embarrassed over the mini-temper tantrum she had just thrown. However, the embarrassment was replaced by concentration. Just because she was upset didn't mean she could let it interfere with her job as a detective-in-training.

She looked over the office, and wondering where she should start first. However, before she could snap on her gloves, her cell phone started ringing. Pulling the device out and looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was Kazuma, and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Ryuu just called me from the coroner's office, and he said that they think he was killed with a poison, which they are still trying to narrow down. Since the poisoner wouldn't have time to leave the premises before the police arrived, the carrying container is most likely still here at the crime scene. He asked us to look for it."

"Okay. Thanks for the update."

Both DDS students hung up at the same time, and Megu continued where she left off. Slipping the gloves on, she started to sort through the desk, from top to bottom. There were multiple office supplies, such as a hole puncher, a stapler, a calculator, and a paperweight, all at the side of the desk. There were also a lot of papers to sort through, and Megu ended up learning and memorizing more about the company's financial statements and budgets than she really wanted to know.

She was just about to give up when she saw the dim light bouncing off something in the back of the bottom side drawer in the desk. Pulling it out, she saw that it was a piece of paper. A strange symbol was etched onto it. Something stirred in the back of her mind. Where had she seen it before?

As she sat back and sifted through her memories, she froze as if a lightning bolt had struck her. Of course! It was the slip of paper they had found prior to finding Kyuu!

As Megu was crouched down behind the desk, though, she suddenly realized how quiet it was. Which was strange, since she was pretty sure that she had left the door open behind her. Even if the workers in the office had left, she should have been able to hear the sounds of the police officers on the scene.

Unless…somebody came in shut the door behind her. And the police officers knew she was in there! So why…

Quickly, she made her way out from under the desk. However, she didn't notice that she had jostled the desk in her haste. She didn't see the paperweight, which was now hanging half off the desk, fall. One minute, she was staring at the dingy carpet, and the next thing she knew, everything had gone black.

* * *

Meanwhile, after passing Ryuu's message on to Megu and Kinta, Kazuma found himself in the meeting room, scouring every inch of it in hopes of finding some evidence. However, he wasn't having much luck.

 _Are all meeting rooms this clean?_

He supposed it did make some sense. The meeting room was pretty bare, with a large table with accompanying chairs that would be enough to seat all of the department heads. Evidence-wise, all he would find would be fingerprints, and because so many people used it at different times of the day, that would be pointless to look for. The only other thing in the room was a phone, since any of the members of the meeting could have someone at the front desk asking to speak to them. He decided to check the phone records anyway. He had a feeling that it could be a big clue…

Speaking of big clues, he did find some shredded paper in the wastebasket. They looked like they came from the same documents, so he decided to bag it and solve that puzzle later as he moved on to Kawamata-san's office.

There, he found that the vice president's office was just as neat as the meeting room, if not more decorated. However, the decorations were just that-decorations. Her desk was neat and tidy, and nothing stood out to him. Abandoning the desk, he looked in the file cabinets and searched under the carpet and inside the bookcases, and still found nothing. Looking toward the door, though, he saw that Kawamata-san's coat was hanging on the door. _Maybe…_

Searching through the pockets, he stilled when he found what felt like a small box that could fit in his hand. He took the mysterious object out, and saw that it was a carrying case for contact lenses.

 _Huh. Why would Kawamata-san have contact lenses if she wore glasses?_

Finding nothing else, he decided to look for his classmates so that they could meet up.

* * *

Kinta hung up after hearing the message Kazuma had passed on for Ryuu. It sounded like the blue-haired boy and Kyuu were handling things pretty well on their end. He was glad-he had felt guilty about not going, but he still wasn't sure exactly where he stood with his father. If they had been the ones left together, Kinta would bet that either they would start arguing or that they would just sit together in awkward silence. He wasn't sure which would have been worse, and he was thankful he didn't have to experience either choice just yet.

He forced himself to stop thinking about his family issues as he opened the door, stepped into the lobby, and started walking towards Akiyama-san's desk.

What? Contrary to his appearance, he did know when to be serious. He was a Class Q detective of DDS, after all.

Like Megu and Kazuma, he started searching through the receptionist's desk first. As he sorted through the post-it-notes, pens, and papers left in neat piles on the desk, he didn't find anything that really stood out. Actually, scratch that. He had found a notepad that was completely blank, while the others at least had something written in each one. However, this one seemed to have a page torn off, and after checking the wastebasket, he decided he would have to find another way to restore the note…

Other than that, there was nothing significant in the drawers. He would have to let Kazuma look at the phone and the computer, though, in case they yielded any clues.

The martial arts practitioner then turned his attention to the lobby. Other than a few lost-and-found items left behind-a book, a water bottle, an umbrella, and a newspaper-there didn't seem-

Wait. A bottle of water? The victim didn't seem to have any reason to consider suicide. And from what Ryuu had said, the victim had ingested it. Maybe it was mixed with the water in the bottle? Kina decided to bag it carefully, in case fingerprints could be found on the bottle.

Looking around the rest of the lobby, he didn't see anything else out of place. He started walking out of the door-he had to show Megu and Kazuma his findings. However, before he could do anything, the sound of rushed footsteps met his ears.

Kazuma burst in, and at his expression, Kinta's face darkened, all traces of humor vanishing. Pulse rushing, he asked, "What happened?"

"Megu is missing."


	33. Where's Megu?

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S! Who knows? It might be possible.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

As the squad car got closer and closer, Kinta and Kazuma shared anxious looks as they wondered how badly their classmates would take the news. They didn't doubt that Ryuu had made Kyuu see the light about Megu's crush on him, but now they couldn't tell how he would react upon hearing the news…

Kinta's breath caught in his throat as the car parked in the space in front of them and the occupants stepped out. However, he forced himself to breathe. Now was not the time to confront his father…they had more pressing issues at the moment.

He did note, however, that Ryuu and Kyuu didn't seem as uncomfortable around his father. What had happened there?

But before he could ask, Kyuu took one look at his and Kazuma's faces, and demanded in a deceptively calm voice. "What happened?" From behind Kyuu, Ryuu shot them a questioning look.

Kazuma was the one to answer, his expression downcast and his eyes shaded by his glasses. "Megu…is missing. We looked all over, but we couldn't find her."

Kinta had to admit that he was surprised at the mystery otaku's reaction. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't that.

For just a few seconds, Kyuu had shared a dark look with Ryuu, who had nodded at him. Their quick and silent communication hadn't been missed by Toyama Osamu. Or Kinta and Kazuma, who had figured out the gist of it. There was only one reason that the DDS detectives would keep something from the police, and that was the fact that it had to do with Pluto.

"Oh, well. I'm sure she just went to do some research. It wouldn't be the first time that she's gone off during a case. So? What did you find at the morgue?" Kinta asked, his eyes meeting his father's as he attempted to distract him from what just happened. Right now, he didn't care if they got into an argument-they had more important problems. He did feel a little surprised at the feeling of guilt that accompanied his lie, even if he was protecting his father from Pluto.

"Your classmates found the cause of death. I assume Ryuu-kun has already filled you in?" Toyama Osamu replied. He was successful distracted-after all, he had just talked with Kinta for the first time after the last few years.

"Yes, he did. And here is what Kazuma and I found…" Kinta explained, as he and Kazuma held up the case for contacts, the pieces of paper, the notepad, and the water bottle. "We'll have to run fingerprint and chemical analysis tests on the water bottle for the poison, and recreate the original documents from this piece of paper. We'll have to ask Kawamata-san about the contact lenses, though."

"Okay. It sounds like you have things under control here. I'll go and question the suspects some more, and check in with the officers. Let me know when you find something," said Toyama-san. He clapped Kyuu and Ryuu on the shoulder, and tried to clap Kinta's, but his son ducked out of the way just in time. He wasn't ready for that display of affection just yet…

His father seemed to understand. However, he wasn't fast enough to hide a flash of hurt, and Kinta felt the guilt surfacing again.

As soon as the elder man walked out of earshot, Kazuma looked at Ryuu and Kyuu. "So, you think Pluto is behind Megu's kidnapping?"

After glancing at Ryuu, Kyuu nodded. "Yes. Ever since…the incident, I've been able to sense if they were watching me on jobs. Apparently, Ryuu has that ability too, and after his interview in Toyoda-san's office, he said that he could feel eyes on the back of his neck."

Kazuma fought off the chill on his spine at those words. "So what do we do now? You think Toyoda-san is disguised as a Pluto member?"

Ryuu shook his head. "That was the other reason why we didn't want Toyama-san to know. When I felt the eyes on the back of my neck, that officer-Nakada-san was standing in the doorway as well. And there's always a slight possibility of the Pluto member being someone who was passing by the door…"

"Okay, so we don't know who's a Pluto member and who's not. But what do we do about Megu?" asked Kinta.

"We'll take a look at Toyoda-san's office, her last known location. But Pluto is good…I highly doubt that they would leave any clues. I mean, the only reason you found me was because of the site's connection to Kuzuryuu, and because my captors had to escape quickly. Unless she manages to escape on her own, we'll just have to wait for their next move."

With that grim statement, Kyuu, Kinta, and Kazuma followed Ryuu to Toyoda-san's office.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a dark, dank room

Megu groaned, her eyes bleary as they tried to focus on her surroundings. What happened? Her head hurt…

She tried to rub her head, but found herself bound with rope around her arms and legs and with a gag stuffed in her mouth. Had she been kidnapped? If so, it wouldn't be a good idea to escape. She hadn't been able to see anything on her way in, and she wouldn't be able to escape successfully without a plan…

Despite the shock that welled up inside her, she dimly remembered that despite the ever increasing urge to sleep, she couldn't, since she didn't know if she had a concussion. And the fact that she was feeling the urge to sleep in this situation spoke volumes about her current mental state. She forced herself to wake up, her vision becoming clearer as the headache started to dull in intensity. She squinted at a small sign that had been etched into the stone wall opposite to her. Where had she seen it before?

Despite the fact that her limbs were bound, she could hear well enough. Her ears picked up on some noise in the background, and she strained to listen to what was being said.

In fact, she could hear footsteps walking by and someone saying, "…Prince Ryuu?," as if he or she were talking over the phone. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear the rest of what the mystery person had been saying, as the footsteps walked away. It seemed that she was in a room by a hallway…

She frowned. Prince Ryuu? Surely that person wasn't talking about the Ryuu that she knew, right? After all, there must be a lot of boys named Ryuu out there in Japan, and even with his looks, he didn't act like royalty…


	34. Kyuu's Reflection

Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12, D C JoKeR H S, and Kaitou!

At the beginning of this story, I said that this story was going to be set in the anime-verse. The reason for that was because I've never read the manga.

desamontello12: I hadn't thought about it! It would be pretty cool to include a cameo on King Hades (which would be interesting, since in this story Kyuu hasn't said anything about his interactions, and Ryuu hasn't seen his grandfather in so long) but I have no idea what his personality is like, or what he even looks like, as you can see from my note above. Sorry! I suppose I could try, but I'm afraid I'll mess it up…

Kaitou: Thanks for letting me know! As you can see from my note above, I had no idea, since I haven't had the time to read the manga, which would be unavailable anyway because of where I live.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

The four male DDS students searched every inch of Toyoda-san's office for any clue to Megu's disappearance. The papers on the desk looked normal-Ryuu would bet that Megu had looked through the paper, and upon finishing the task, used her photographic memory to put them in the exact place she had found it. It was an unconscious habit of hers. One of many, in fact.

Kazuma mused out loud. "Megu wouldn't just disappear on her own without letting one of us know. So how did the kidnapper convince her to go with them?"

The other three nodded. All of them had agreed to refer to the kidnapper as such-anyone from Pluto or the police force could hear them, and the Class Q students would prefer to keep the fact that they knew about Pluto's existence to themselves.

Kinta frowned as a thought occurred to him. If anyone could be Pluto, did that mean his father…? He rejected the thought immediately. Despite their differences, it was clear that his father was a good man. And if he wasn't, why hadn't he taken the opportunity to take out the two brains of the team on the way to the morgue? He turned away from his mental debate, and looked back at Kazuma and Ryuu, who were now surrounding the table.

Ryuu had spoken up. "She wouldn't have gone away with a stranger. She's too smart for that. She must have been incapacitated somehow."

Kinta looked at Kyuu, who was standing at the door, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes. He had been silent after outlining their plan for the day. The martial artist and Kazuma felt uneasy at the idea of talking to him-they had no idea what kind of emotions were running through his head right now. Ryuu might be able to hazard a guess, but he didn't seem willing to break Kyuu's silence…

"Maybe someone used the paperweight? I don't see any bloodstains, so she must have been hit with a blunt object," Kinta said out loud. He picked it up, and sprayed it with luminol. Turning off the light, he and the others stood back as it shined brightly. "Okay. It looks like she wasn't hit too hard-there's only a little bit of blood here. Huh? What's this shape?"

Ryuu's eyes widened at the sight. "Well, now we definitely know who was behind Megu's kidnapping."

Seeing no reason to continue this conversation in the dark, Kinta crossed the room and turned the lights back on, looking to Ryuu and Kazuma for their next move.

"Ne, Ryuu," said Kazuma. When the blue-haired boy turned to look at him, he continued. "Do you think Toyoda-san is a member of _that_ organization, and he happened to walk in on Megu searching his room, so he decided to silence her? Or do you think he's being framed, since she disappeared from his room?"

"I don't know. Both are distinct possibilities, and without knowing Pluto's motive for kidnapping Megu, and for being involved this crime, I can't give you an answer."

Kazuma nodded. "What do you think, Kyuu?"

There was no response. The three boys turned to the doorway, but Kyuu was nowhere in sight.

"Where did Kyuu go?" Kinta yelped. How did he move so quickly, yet so soundlessly?

He and Kazuma watched as Ryuu closed his eyes in thought. After a long moment, he opened them. "I have a good idea of where he is. Why don't you and Kazuma analyze the evidence you collected? I'll talk to him."

The programmer and the martial artist looked at each other, and shrugged. They went off, and Ryuu crouched down to where he knew Kyuu was.

"What are you doing down there?" he asked the mystery otaku under the desk.

"I was thinking about Kinta's words about the paperweight when I realized something. Megu has really good hearing, so it would be difficult to sneak up behind her to knock her out. So how did the kidnapper incapacitate her?"

Ryuu nodded. "I was wondering about that myself. And? What did you find out?"

"Well, if you were used to background noise, you would notice if it disappeared, right? Everything would be silent."

Ryuu raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but I don't see how…of course!"

Kyuu nodded. "Whenever we investigated in the past, Megu would leave the door to the crime scene open behind her-it's one of the habits she does unconsciously. If we open this door, we can hear the police officers talking. And if we close the door, the sound cuts off. If, say, a Pluto member did this, and placed the paperweight on the edge of the desk, Megu would jostle the desk in her haste to see what happened, causing the paperweight to fall and for her to get knocked out. After that, it would be easy for Pluto to kidnap her and leave that symbol behind."

Ryuu stared at his counterpart in amazement. As always, he was surprised at Kyuu's intuition, but one detail at the beginning caught his attention. "You paid attention to that habit?"

"Yeah," said Kyuu with a sad chuckle. "I noticed it ever since our first case. Pretty stupid of me not to see how much I love her, huh?"

As he looked at his best friend with sympathy and sadness, Ryuu thought, "Kyuu…we'll find her. And you'll get the chance to tell her how you feel."


	35. Megu Escapes

I KNOW THIS PART IS LONG, BUT PLEASE READ THIS A/N BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THE STORY:

First of all, sorry about not updating for the last two weeks! The first week, I had final exams, and this past week, I was looking at the past few chapters, and I realized that they didn't make sense. Also, I was reading the English version of the manga on KissAnime (shoutout to D C Joker H S for telling me about it!) Anyway, with this new chapter, I updated the past few chapters! Basically, I changed it so that the victim died by unknowingly ingesting poison (most likely strychnine), and Kinta found a bottle of water in the lobby instead of an umbrella, and Kazuma found a carrying container for contact lenses in Kawamata-san's coat instead of a glasses case with embroidery needles. I did rewrites on as far back as Chapter 31, so start there if you would like to review the case!

To make up for this hiatus, I will be updating more frequently, so I will probably finish the story by the end of this month

* * *

Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12, D C JoKeR H S, and Kaitou!

NOTE: KissAnime only showed like two or three appearance from King Hades, so I decided that if he appears in my story, it will be as a cameo-I feel like I don't have enough information to write about him. And before you ask, D C JoKeR H S, I tried accessing the Live Action episodes in English, but I couldn't.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

The subject of Kyuu and Ryuu's conversation sat, her back to the wall. Megu had been awake for some time now, and was starting to gain her bearings. And it wouldn't do any good to panic, so she started making a list of the discoveries she had made so far.

1\. She could still feel the small capsule she had found in Toyoda-san's room within the small evidence bag, all tucked neatly against her body. Mentally, she sighed jn relief, thankful that her impulsive action turned out to be justified. Before she left her place from under Toyoda-san's desk, she had shoved the package into a hidden makeshift pocket on the inside of her jacket, in case something was wrong. She had been planning to fix it for some time, but hadn't gotten around to it. Today, however, it worked to her advantage.

2\. She had been kidnapped by someone, for some unknown reason. Considering that she had been kidnapped after searching a suspect's room, she could only infer that it was because she had stumbled upon something that the criminal didn't want found. If so, she must have found the correct container for the poison. However, as a good detective, she shouldn't assume that Toyoda-san was the criminal-it could have been planted in Toyoda-san's room, after all. As for her captor, that part was still a blank.

3\. Despite the foggy state of heft memory earlier, it was working well now. Apparently, during her "transportation" to her current cell, she had woken up a few times before slipping back to unconsciousness. With some mental planning, she figured that she could make her way out of that place. However, she didn't know if she would be able to make it back to DDS-she didn't even know where she was.

With those three conclusions on her mind, Megu decided that she had to escape. Looking around the dark room, her eyes caught the shine of metal. However, it seemed to be rather dull-perhaps rust had corroded some of it? Scooting her way over to the metal, she saw that there were a few short nails, probably left over from the construction of the place. While they were small, they were better than nothing at all, and Meg heaved a sigh as she started sawing away at the cloth binding her hands.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kazuma and Kinta were analyzing the evidence they had collected. They had sent the water bottle and the carrying case to the labs at DDS to be analyzed for poison and fingerprints.

Kinta looked at the notepad closely. The first page had been torn out, but he could still see impressions of Akiyama-san's handwriting on the second page.

Looking around, the martial arts practitioner found a pencil and shaded the first page on the notepad. When he was done, he was impressed-Akiyama-san had written hard enough that he could easily make out some of the words. He knew that it must have taken some force to make such deep impressions. , especially the names of the victim's father and the victim. He raised an eyebrow. Did Akiyama-san have some sort of grudge against her boss and his father?

Making a mental note to look ask Kazuma about it later, Kinta grabbed the pile of shredded paper that Kazuma had found in wastebasket of the meeting room, so that he could piece each document back together. Mentally, he groaned in frustration at his task, but it had to be done if they wanted to solve the case. Besides, Kazuma seemed to be pretty busy.

The computer genius was typing away on his laptop, drumming his fingertips on the keyboard as he waited for the phone records for the meeting room to pop up on the monitor. He sat up as his screen filled with a ton of data. Hmmm…it seemed that Kawamata-san had been on the phone for ten minutes, longer than what would have constituted a business conversation without having to leave the room. Could she have had an accomplice? It wouldn't be hard to leave her office door unlocked. Her partner could have taken the contact lens case and emptied its contents into Enoki-san's water bottle without him noticing…

He was brought out of his musings when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he noted that it was the number for the DDS labs.

The buzzing of the phone had caught Kinta's attention as well, and he paused his puzzle solving task out of curiosity. However, Kazuma's expression and one-word responses gave nothing away, and Kinta pounced on Kazuma as soon as he hung up.

"Who was that?"

"The lab. They called to confirm that Enoki-san's cause of death was strychnine poisoning, and trace amounts of it was found it the water left in the bottle you found. But, remember how we figured that the criminal must have stored the poison somewhere before it got into the bottle, since strychnine acts quickly and Enoki-san would have died earlier if the poison had been in the water bottle before?"

"…Yes. What about it?"

"There was no trace of poison in the contact lens case."

"Eh? But we didn't find anything else that would have been small enough to escape attention!"

"Ah. But what if Megu did?"

"…! So you think Pluto kidnapped her so that that evidence doesn't come in to light?"

"Well, I think we should let Kyuu and Ryuu know, either way. As soon as you finish that puzzle, that is."

"You could help, you know!"

* * *

Megu panted from the sheer effort of removing her bindings and gag. She had worked as fast as she could, in case her captors came into the room. However, they didn't, and she wondered what was taking them so long. Did they underestimate how long her head injury would incapacitate her? Then again, it was true that serious head wounds were capable of causing comas, and from the way her head was throbbing, it was most definitely a serious head wound…

As she regained her breath, she searched for the longest and thinnest nail. While it wasn't the best lock picking tool, it would have to do. The lock on the door to her cell was double-sided, meaning that it could be opened from the inside. It had been a while since Hongou-sensei had taught them about picking locks ("Only to be used for emergencies!"), but she remembered that lesson clearly.

After a few tries, she heard the lock click, and she swung the door open quietly, thankful that it didn't creak, since it was made of metal. Then, to buy herself some time by making it look like she was still inside, she locked the door from the outside, ears open for anyone coming down the hallway.

When she was done, she looked around, noting that the layout was similar to the house in which they had found Kyuu, and started to go on the route that she had planned in her head as she was severing the cloth bindings. She made it for about a third of the way before she heard footsteps making their way towards her. Quickly, she ducked into what appeared to be a small closet, and slowed her breathing down. Her ears picked up on a woman muttering. While most of the words were frustratingly unintelligible, she could hear her say something like "King Hades".

Where had Megu heard the name before? Ah, that's right! When she was in the Tokyo Development Center, they tested some of her memorization skills by having her look at different languages and cultures around the world. King Hades was the Greek god of death. The Romans worshipped the same gods, although they were named differently. And the Roman name for Hades was…

Pluto!

Did that mean Pluto was behind her kidnapping? But why? Were they behind the poisoning case? And the man from before had mentioned a "Prince Ryuu"...

After the woman's footsteps echoed away, Megu continued on her path, being even more cautious than before. She erased her suspicions of Ryuu from her mind, resolving to talk to him about it once she escaped.

As she neared the entrance, she started having close calls as she walked into hallways or rooms, which had people in them. Since she had gone barefoot, she was able to sneak away before they noticed that she was there. However, in the few instances when she was noticed, she quickly incapacitated her opponents (using her body or nearby objects) and rendered them unconscious.

On one of the unconscious bodies, she found a map, with her current address circled. It seemed that the man needed directions to get to this facility. As she got to what was clearly the front door (with windows on either side of the door showing the natural world outside), she set off towards the second nearest bus stop, despite it being miles away. If she had gone to the nearest one, she would have been found by her captors immediately.

However, in her haste to get out, the DDS detective didn't seem to realize that there were security cameras hidden in the ceiling panels, tracking her movements ever since she had left her room.

* * *

In a dark room, with dozens of monitors, a white-haired man chuckled darkly. "So this is one of the students of Morihiko Dan with whom Ryuu has become acquainted, huh?"

"Ah. What should we do?"

King Hades turned, the two scars under his eye standing out in the light from the screens. "Let her escape. I am confident that our client will not give us away. And I believe that Ryuu understands my message perfectly."

"And what was that message, sir?"

"He can run, but he can never escape from his destiny as my successor. I will make sure he comes back, no matter what it takes."


	36. Who Poisoned Enoki-san?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S and Kaitou!

Kaitou: Thanks! I noticed the similarities between the two when I took last week to read the manga.

D C JoKeR H S: I'm glad you liked it! And who knows? You may be right.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts (or predictions) about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Kyuu, Ryuu, Kazuma, and Kinta were all gathered in the makeshift lab where Kazuma and Kinta had done their analyses of the evidence. Kinta, Kyuu, and Ryuu had just finished exchanging theories and findings with one another, while Kazuma recently returned after having excused himself to ask a few questions to the suspects. After he relayed the suspects' responses to the group, Kyuu leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. "So that's how it is. Well, now we know who our poisoner is."

"But what do we do about the missing container?" Kazuma frowned. Without it, their suspect would get away scot-free.

"Since we didn't find it anywhere at the crime scene, we can only assume Megu found it," Ryuu surmised.

"Hopefully the kidnapper didn't take it away from her…" Kinta remarked.

"Even if they did, Megu will find a way to get it back and return to us. I know it," said Kyuu, his belief in her evident in his tone.

His classmates smiled, nodding at the truth in his words.

* * *

Everyone, ranging from Toyama Osamu to his subordinates (including Nakada-san) to the suspects, were gathered in the meeting room.

"So, Class Q. Have you figured out who killed Enoki-san?" asked Toyama-san.

"Ah. There are three hints," replied Kyuu. Before he could continue, he was interrupted.

"Killed? You mean, it wasn't suicide?"

"No, we found cause of death to be strychnine poisoning," explained Kazuma. "If he wanted to commit suicide, he would have chosen a less complicated way to kill himself."

"But wouldn't I have noticed signs of it when I looked up from the desk?" questioned Akiyama-san.

"Yes, but when we tested the concentration of the strychnine we found in a water bottle that he had left behind, it was very high, meaning that it would have been a quick death. He would only have felt severe stomach pains if he hadn't fallen unconscious first," said Ryuu. "That was the first hint."

"Unconscious? I thought he just fell asleep…" Akiyama-san gasped in surprise.

"And you think one of us killed him?" asked Kawamata-san, her glasses hiding her eyes.

"Ah. This leads to our second hint-the phone records. When we reviewed them, we noticed that you had a ten minute call, which most likely happened during a break between meetings, some of which involved Enoki-san, and some of which did not. With that phone call, you could have conspired with an accomplice to put the poison into the bottle minutes before his death," said Kyuu.

"However, Akiyama-san and Toyoda-san also had the opportunity to put the poison into the bottle. Both were doing their work on their own, and could have slipped into the lobby among the crowds going in and out minutes before Enoki-san's death," explained Kinta.

"So any one of you had the opportunity to kill him," concluded Ryuu. "However, not everyone had the motive to do so."

"Kawamata-san, if Enoki-san died, you would have been a prime candidate for his position. When I first interviewed you, you admitted to me that you disliked the way he had handled the company," Kazuma pointed out.

"As far as we knew, as someone fairly new to the company, Toyoda-san was one of the only ones in the company who didn't have a motive to kill Enoki-san," said Ryuu.

"Neither did I!" Akiyama-san said indignantly.

"Really?" said Kinta, as he raised an eyebrow. "When I was interrogating you, you mentioned Enoki-san's father, and how much you disliked him."

"So? Just because I disliked Enoki-san's father, didn't mean I felt the same way about his son!" Akiyama-san retorted.

"Well, when I was piecing together some of this shredded paper that we found in the meeting room, I found something interesting, which turned out to be our third hint. You see, I found the remnants of an old newspaper. With Kazuma's help, I found the original article online, and it mentioned that there were accusations against Enoki-san's father, surrounding his mistreatment of the lower level employees," said Kinta.

"What? That wasn't true-the accusations were dismissed due to lack of evidence!" defended Kawamata-san, who looked gobsmacked.

"No, it was because he bribed the accusers! As if money could fix everything. And even after that scandal, he continued mistreating me and the others for years. How is that fair?!"

"And you were afraid that Enoki-san would turn out like his father. Like father, like son, right?"

"…" Akiyama-san didn't deny it. "But how would I have snuck in the poison? The security guards would have noticed if I was carrying a large bottle of strychnine with me."

The four DDS students looked at each other uncertainly. This was it-the point that could invalidate their reasoning for the whole case.

"You would have had to carry a small container with you," offered Kazuma.

"Like a contacts lens case? I overheard one of the police officers talking about it."

Toyama-san shot a knowing glare at Nakada-san, who suddenly looked sheepish.

"Yes, it's true that we found a contacts lens case in Kawamata-san's jacket. However, when Kazuma asked her why she had it even though she had glasses…" said Ryuu. Everyone turned to Kawamata-san with curious looks.

"I lost them, okay! I had to use my glasses so that I could see," snapped Kawamata-san, the social pressure getting to her. During her exclamation, no one heard the door quietly open.

"We found this to be true when we consulted her optician," said Kazuma. "This left you as our main suspect."

"But other than the contact lens case, you couldn't find a small container on the scene of the crime, could you? So how could I have killed Enoki-san?"

"With this."

At the familiar voice, the four male DDS students' heads snapped up. That was…!

Sure enough, Megu was standing in the doorway, looking somewhat bruised but otherwise unharmed. She was holding up a clear evidence bag, with what looked like a pill capsule inside.

Kyuu couldn't contain his smile of relief. Turning to Akiyama-san, he said, "After you put the poison into the bottle, you would only have minutes between Enoki-san drinking the water and him dying before you "discovered" his death. So you ran into Toyoda-san's room, which was the closest to the lobby, and planted the evidence there. However, I doubt that you would have had the time to wipe off your fingerprints. When we send this to the lab, will we find them on this capsule?"

"…Very well. I'll tell you what I know," Akiyama-san murmured, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

* * *

So, were your predictions of who the criminal right?


	37. The Agent of Pluto

Thanks for reviewing, D C JoKeR H S!

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts (or predictions) about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Before Akiyama-san could speak, she suddenly froze, her face twisted in an expression of fear. A voice in the back of head! She began to scream and convulse, the police officers all rushing to assist her.

Recognizing the sign of someone becoming hypnotized, Ryuu looked around. When his eyes landed on Toyoda-san's, his instincts were warning him that there was something going on with the accountant.

They turned out to be correct when Toyoda-san turned and ran out of the now unguarded door. Quickly, he called, "Kyuu, come with me! Kazuma, Kinta, make sure she doesn't escape, and look after Megu."

Having also seen Toyoda-san's hasty exit, Kyuu nodded and joined Ryuu in his pursuit. Behind them, Kazuma was looking for an area with cell reception so that he could call for an ambulance. As he watched Kazuma leave, Kinta turned to his father. "I know you want to go and help them, but they can handle it. Right now, Megu and Akiyama-san need medical attention in case their injuries are more serious than they look, and we'll need you to explain the situation to the paramedics."

Toyama-san hesitated. "But-"

"Tou-san, please…trust me."

The combination of the address, as well as the plea, was enough to get Toyama Osamu-san's agreement. "…Very well."

And not a moment later, at her position at the doorway, Megu stumbled and collapsed, to the worry of the Toyamas and the recently returned Kazuma.

* * *

Kyuu and Ryuu were following Toyoda-san, although they were losing sight of him, since he had a head start.

"Huff… huff… for an accountant, he's a fast runner," said Kyuu, as he tried to regulate his breathing. "Guess that makes sense, since he isn't really one."

However, Ryuu didn't seem to hear his words. His next word came out in a quick rush. "Ne, Kyuu. There are two different ways Toyoda-san could have gone. Do you think we should split up?"

Kyuu frowned. He didn't want to leave either of them to fend off a member of Pluto without knowing how strong he was, but letting him go wasn't an option-he could alert the rest of Pluto to where their missing agents were. "Yeah, I guess it would make sense-at least one of us is bound to come across him. I'll go left, you take the right?"

Ryuu agreed, pausing before he took off. "Be careful, Kyuu."

Kyuu nodded, and said, "Same for you." With that, they left in opposite directions.

* * *

The leader of Class Q crept around quietly, wielding an umbrella that he had found and using it to push open unlocked doors. Toyoda-san's priority would be escape, and he wouldn't take time to lock doors behind him. At least, that was what Kyuu hoped, as he tentatively pushed open the next door.

Ryuu had found a cane that someone had left behind. Hopefully, the person using it had a spare…

Shaking his head, he berated himself for going off track at a time like this. He was hanging out with his classmates too much, he thought as an exasperated, but fond, smile touched his lips.

Getting back to his task, he tapped the cane against the door lightly, and listened for any reactions that the sound caused. There should have been no one in the offices-the people involved in the case, with the exception of Toyoda-san, were in the meeting room, and the building was a crime scene-so any reaction caused by the light knock would logically be Toyoda-san's. He was almost done, and was about to check the last few doors when-

BANG! BANG!

At the sound, Ryuu's heart raced. Kyuu! He began running, hoping that he wasn't too late.

* * *

At the moment, Kyuu was dodging bullets, literally. When his umbrella touched one of the doors in his section of the hallway, he stepped in to the dark room to ensure that no one was hiding inside. And of course, as soon as he stepped in, he was peppered with bullets, and had to resort to using his now open umbrella as a shield. The material was surprisingly sturdy, even deflecting some of the projectiles.

In between Toyoda-san's succession of bullets produced by his handgun, he peeked over his makeshift shield to get a look at his assailant. Sure enough, it was Toyoda-san. The strange thing, though, was that he was grinning evilly. Even if Kyuu hadn't been the one to question him, he didn't seem the type to smile. And come to think of it, that smile was disturbingly familiar. But on whom had he seen it?

However, before he could continue with that train of thought, he noticed that the Pluto agent was inching towards the door. Kyuu's eyes flashed. He couldn't let him escape. In a very fast and admittedly reckless move, Kyuu miraculously dodged the bullets and was three feet away from him. Before Toyoda-san could react, Kyuu leapt at him, sending both males to the ground. The impact knocked the gun out of the Pluto member's hands, and they both wrestled for control. Kyuu's fingers had just touched the gun, when it was grabbed by Toyoda-san.

Despite the feeling of dread that crept trough Kyuu, his eyes widened as he finally remembered why he had recognized his attacker's smile.

"Odin?" he wheezes.

"Ara, ara. Looks like my cover is blown. Oh well, it doesn't matter-Pluto was already displeased with your escape from my clutches, and has been looking for me ever since. If I'm going to die, I'll just take you down with me."

Aiming at Kyuu's heart, Odin began to squeeze the trigger. However, Kyuu had snapped out of shock, and reached for the gun.

BANG! BANG!

* * *

Ryuu raced down the hallway. _The shot came from… this room!_

Slamming the door open, his heart skipped a beat as he saw two figures on the floor. One was Toyoda-san, and the other was...Kyuu!

Forcing himself to stay professional, he checked for Toyoda-san's pulse. After a minute, he felt nothing. Not knowing what to make of the Pluto agent's death, he hurried to Kyuu. To his relief, he managed to find a pulse. However, it was weakening, and Ryuu looked for an injury. Finding the bullet hole in his best friend's abdomen, he forced himself to remain calm as he balled up his jacket and held it tightly against the wound, using his other hand to let Kazuma know where they were.

* * *

One more chapter to go, and I'll be wrapping this story up!


	38. Endings and Beginnings

Hey guys! I know this was a pretty fast update, but as I mentioned in a previous update, I wanted to get this story done by the end of 2016. *Looks at calendar* …Well, close enough. Happy new year, everyone!

Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12! And I totally agree ;)

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts (or predictions) about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

* * *

Unsure of what woke him up, Kyuu opened his eyes to a sea of bright light. He heard a steady beep to his right, and turned to look at the source of the noise. _Heart monitor…_

He was feeling somewhat disoriented. Was he in a hospital room again? Or were the last three cases all part of a dream? Did his friends find him? And what about Megu? Did she really feel the same about him? And what about his mom?

He had to find them! In his state of panic, he had thrown his sheets to the floor, and his heart monitor started beeping faster and faster. However, a voice cut through his fuzzy state.

"Kyuu! What are you doing?! Get back to bed!" Ryuu was at the door, looking at him with wide and concerned eyes.

 _Ryuu?_ So the last couple of months hadn't been a dream. Relaxing somewhat, he sank back down to a lying position, as Ryuu took the chair at his bedside. However, he tensed again as he became aware of a stabbing pain in his abdomen. Looking under the covers, he saw that his midsection was in a swath of bandages. What happened to him?

Seeing his curiosity, Ryuu explained, "It seemed that after you and I split up in the hallway, you found Toyoda-san in one of the offices. Somehow, you must have gained control of his gun, and both of you ended up with a bullet in you."

Kyuu frowned. "Not Toyoda-san. It was Odin."

Ryuu looked surprised. "Your abductor from Pluto?"

"Yes. What happened to him?"

"Well, it's… complicated. When I heard the gunshots and came to find you, I checked his pulse, and he didn't have one."

"So he's dead?"

"…Not quite. I only had a minute to check, and while unlikely, it would be possible to resuscitate him. However, the paramedics in his ambulance pronounced him dead, en route to the hospital. In addition, some time after that, his body went missing."

"Hmm… it could be Pluto tying up loose ends by making sure that the body doesn't trace back to them," mused Kyuu.

"Or they could have revived him somehow," Ryuu said with a frown. "Pluto is known for pulling off the impossible."

Fighting off the shiver at his best friend's words, Kyuu said, "Well, if he comes back, we'll be ready."

With a small smile on his face, Ryuu nodded. However, that smile turned into a playful smirk as he said, "Does that 'we' include Megu?"

A blush rose in Kyuu's face. "Wait. Where is she? And everyone else?"

Ryuu's smirk faded as he became serious. "It seems that the shock of being kidnapped kicked in soon after we left, and she collapsed. Right now, Megu's just under observation-she'll be released tomorrow. Kinta is having a much awaited conversation with his father, and Kazuma's in the waiting room to let your mother and DDS know what happened."

While Kyuu processed the information, Ryuu's smirk returned. "Do you think I should bring Megu up to see you?"

As Kyuu began blushing and sputtering, Ryuu snickered as he headed to the door. "We'll be back in about five minutes."

As soon as the blue haired boy left, Kyuu began to panic internally. The last time they spoke, he and Megu weren't exactly on the best of terms. What should he say? Maybe he could leave through the window so that he could escape her wrath?

His panic intensified as soon as he heard the knock.

He called "Come in" with a calmness he didn't feel. Watching as Ryuu wheeled Meg in through the door, he tried to get Ryuu to stay, pleading with his eyes. However, it was to no avail, as Ryuu pretended not to see, and said that he would stay by the door to wheel Meg back to her room.

* * *

Ryuu smiled to himself as he leaned against the door. While he would usually give his classmates more privacy, what would he do? He couldn't interrupt Kinta's conversation or Kazuma's phone calls. So wait by the door it was.

It wasn't like he was intentionally eavesdropping. The door _was_ closed, and it wasn't his fault if the door did not do much to block out internal noise.

Unfortunately for him, however, except for the initial outburst of "Kyuu, you idiot!", the rest of the conversation was quiet.

After a few minutes more, he heard his name being called. Curious, Ryuu opened the door and walked in. "Ready to go back, Megu?" He took in the sight of their linked hands, but decided not to say anything about it.

To his surprise, she stayed in her seat as she looked up at him and shook her head.

Kyuu looked at him hesitantly. "While she was missing, Megu heard something."

"Prince Ryuu…?" she asked, looking at him with eyes sparkling with curiosity and a hint of wariness. Ryuu froze, before slumping in defeat.

Kyuu hated seeing him so defeated, but he had to ask. "If Megu is going to know, maybe we should let the rest of class know too? After all, keeping big secrets like this never lead to good outcomes. Look at how me keeping my nightmares a secret turned out."

Ryuu still looked unconvinced, so Megu decided to speak up. "Ryuu, if it's true that you're a member of Pluto, I know there must be a reason why you came to DDS, and why Kyuu trusts you. After hearing that reason, I don't think any of us in Class Q will judge you for your actions," she said with a compassionate tone and kind smile.

Ryuu sighed in defeat, although there was a shine of hope in his eyes. "Okay. Just let me get Kazuma and Kinta. They should be done by now."

Megu and Kyuu watched as Ryuu returned with the two boys in tow.

"What's this about?" asked Kinta as the three boys sat down in the rest of the chairs in the room.

Ryuu hesitated. Kyuu and Megu looked at each other, and placed reassuring hands on Ryuu's shoulder. Smiling at them, he began his story.

"It all started when I was a young child…"

* * *

Thanks to all of my readers and reviews. This was my longest story thus far, with 50K words. It took longer than I expected, but it was quite a journey, with 62 reviews, about 1900 views, and 38 chapters. Special thanks to Kaitou, desamontello12, and D C JoKeR H S for reviewing the most!

Feel free to let me know your thoughts about this story! And as always, no flames, please!


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